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ViaSat ramps up Melbourne
base to support next-generation Asia-Pac satellite
US satellite company ViaSat is ready to ramp up its
resources in Melbourne to cater for recent
Australian growth as well as to support the future
launch of its ViaSat-3 constellation in Asia
Pacific. Its new Asia Pacific headquarters was
officially opened by Victorian minister for small
business, innovation and trade Philip Dalidakis at
an event with existing ViaSat customers NBN and
Qantas.
ViaSat-3 is a constellation of three satellites,
with each expected to have a capacity of 1 terabit
per second. The satellites will be launched from
2019, with one satellite expected to provide
coverage over Asia Pacific and Australia.
ViaSat Asia Pacific VP Peter Girvan told CommsDay
that the Australian team would support its business
growth across the region initially. “What we're
building now is also in preparation for the ViaSat-3
launch, where we would have regional coverage. So a
lot of what we're doing now is consolidating our
support and resources in preparation for that,
that's the long game,” he said.
Australia is already ViaSat's largest market in Asia
Pacific. It continues to work with NBN following its
contract to build the ground infrastructure for the
Sky Muster satellite service, while it is currently
providing satellite services and equipment to Qantas
for its soon-to-launch inflight internet service.
And more recently it has won a major contract with
the Department of Defence for a ground station at
Kapooka, NSW in conjunction with Northrop Grumman.
Girvan said the company's headcount would increase
from 15 to 35 this year, followed by another burst
of staffing over the next 18-24 months. It plans to
build up a core delivery team for all of its
businesses in Australia, which had previously
partially relied on support from the United States,
with recruiting for project staff currently
underway.
“This office represents a signal of growth for both
ViaSat and for the Asia Pacific communications
sector in general. We are proud to have our Asia
Pacific headquarters here in Melbourne as we expand
our capabilities and grow our local commitment to
our existing customers including NBN, Qantas and
Defence,” Girvan said.
Speaking at the official opening, minister Dalidakis
– who worked under former federal communications
minister Stephen Conroy when the NBN satellite
service was being planned – praised ViaSat's work in
helping to provide communications to people in rural
Australia.
“If you believe that broadband is one of the
essential services now, then it's never more
important in rural and regional Australia and for
ViaSat to be providing that endto-end solution to
ensure that people in remote areas do have that
connectivity. It is really important both for their
way of life but also for business. And of course
small business is one of my portfolios along with
innovation and trade and that broadband connectivity
helps all of those people be just a little bit
closer to everyone else,” Dalidakis said.
The choice of location for ViaSat's Asia Pac
headquarters had been between Sydney and Melbourne.
However, CommsDay understands that Melbourne won out
following a presentation by Invest Victoria at
ViaSat's global headquarters in Carlsbad,
California. Dalidakis said the state was focussed on
attracting technology and other growth sectors.
“To see ViaSat double-down with their investment
here in Victoria, to talk about growth, this is what
we [Victoria] want to do, this is where we want to
be – at the forefront of technological advancement
and development,” the minister said. Geoff Long,
Commsday. |
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