Episodes
Friday Jun 24, 2022
Keven Lippert on Viasat’s business in the UK
Friday Jun 24, 2022
Friday Jun 24, 2022
Ongoing work with MOD and pending Inmarsat acquisition are top priorities
In this episode of the Viasat Podcast, host Alex Miller speaks with Keven Lippert, Viasat chief commercial officer, about the company’s business in the UK. Viasat has been active in the UK for a number of years — particularly with the Ministry of Defence — and is growing its footprint with new offices, more personnel and a pending acquisition that will greatly enhance its presence in the country.
Topics covered in this podcast episode include:
- A bit of history on Viasat in the UK, including our acquisition of Stonewood in 2010 that has been the foundation for the encryption products we provide for the UK Ministry of Defence;
- How the acquisition of RigNet in 2021 has also expanded our presence in Scotland with products and services for the energy industry;
- The upcoming ViaSat-3 constellation and how the second satellite over Europe, the Middle East and Africa represents another large investment in broadband infrastructure in the UK;
- The company’s new office in the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus and our relationship with the UK Space Agency as well as the European Space Agency;
- The pending acquisition of global satellite operator Inmarsat and how it will enhance our network in the UK and beyond.
Tuesday Jan 04, 2022
Viasat’s COO looks to the year ahead
Tuesday Jan 04, 2022
Tuesday Jan 04, 2022
In this episode of the Viasat Podcast, host Alex Miller speaks with Viasat Chief Operating Officer Kevin Harkenrider. Promoted to the role last fall, Harkenrider speaks to the busy road ahead as Viasat prepares to launch and monetize its global satellite constellation, ViaSat-3.
Harkenrider has been with Viasat since 2006 and has occupied a number of different roles with the company in that time.
Some of the topics touched upon in this episode:
- Preparing for the global markets where ViaSat-3 will deliver service and navigating the regulatory landscape in a variety of countries
- Determining the role third-party partners will play
- How increased competition in the satellite internet market aligns with increasing demand around the world and Harkenrider’s view that there’s room for all to flourish
- The advantage of ViaSat-3’s flexible beam structure and how it enables more strategic placement of capacity
- How Viasat continues to position itself to be an employer of choice amid the backdrop of the shift to remote work and a more mobile workforce
- The importance of accountability across the organization as it grows globally
- Six traits of a leader where Harkenrider says he’s always trying to earn an “A” himself
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
Viasat’s Marc Agnew on the evolution of satellite ground networks
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
Wednesday Oct 07, 2020
Satellites launched by rockets into space may get a lot of attention, but equally important is the ground system back on Earth. Those connections are essential for making the link between the internet, the satellite and the end user.
In this episode of the Viasat podcast, host Alex Miller talks with Marc Agnew, who’s been working on this technology for decades at the company. As Vice President of Commercial Networks, Agnew has seen the technology for ground systems change dramatically, and he outlines some of those developments in this podcast.
With the upcoming ViaSat-3 global constellation, Agnew talks about how the miniaturization of the equipment, along with a shift of processing into the cloud, will enable the network to handle terabits of information.
Other topics discussed include:
- How ground systems work and a bit about their history;
- The growth of Viasat as a fiber optic player;
- The changes to the equipment at the home or business;
- The benefits of Ka-band for managing data; and
- The greater challenge low-earth orbit satellites have with antennas.
Monday Aug 24, 2020
Satellite for businesses with Eric Stark
Monday Aug 24, 2020
Monday Aug 24, 2020
In this episode of the Viasat Podcast, host Alex Miller catches up with Eric Stark, director of sales for Viasat’s Global Business Services. Stark goes into the benefits of Viasat Business service, which includes primary and redundant service, Wi-Fi hotspots, SD-WAN and more.
Some of the topics discussed include:
- Myths of satellite internet regarding how fast it is, how well it works for VoIP and its reliability;
- How many construction managers rely on Viasat to stand up internet in places where terrestrial infrastructure doesn’t yet exist;
- How businesses with multiple locations can streamline their broadband needs with Viasat as opposed to using a patchwork of regional providers;
- How businesses can expand their broadband service with the business hotspot product; and
- Viasat’s plans to expand internationally.
Wednesday May 06, 2020
Managing a network during the COVID-19 crisis
Wednesday May 06, 2020
Wednesday May 06, 2020
Since the COVID-19 pandemic has forced millions of people to adapt to work-at-home practices, it’s created an enormous shift in the data traffic patterns for internet service providers like Viasat. In this episode of the Viasat Podcast, host Alex Miller catches up with Evan Dixon, Vice President and Head of Residential for The Americas. Topics covered include:
- How demand has spiked during the pandemic, and how data usage has changed demands on our network.
- What Viasat is doing to prioritize work-from-home and school-from-home applications during the pandemic. Plus, how the company is working to deliver as much capacity as possible to our customers.
- How managing data traffic across the network helps ensure all our subscribers continue to get good service.
- Ways in which customers can adjust their own behavior to improve their experience in their homes and across the network.
- How what we’ve learned during this period will help improve and expand our service going forward.
Wednesday Dec 18, 2019
How Viasat is enabling in-flight connectivity in China - With Simon Kuo
Wednesday Dec 18, 2019
Wednesday Dec 18, 2019
In this episode of the Viasat podcast, VP of Corporate Quality Simon Kuo speaks with host Alex Miller about the company's partnership with China Satcom aimed at connecting China's growing commercial air fleet.
Wednesday Dec 04, 2019
Podcast: How satellite internet fills the gaps in rural areas
Wednesday Dec 04, 2019
Wednesday Dec 04, 2019
In this episode of the Viasat podcast, Steven Mesnick, Vice President of Marketing, discusses how areas left behind by traditional, terrestrial internet service providers can find satellite internet to be a good solution. He also discusses the new hybrid product, new satellites in the works and some of the myths about satellite internet.
Thursday Oct 10, 2019
The power of business continuity with Viasat
Thursday Oct 10, 2019
Thursday Oct 10, 2019
In this episode of the Viasat Podcast, we talk to Cody Catalena, Vice President of Global Business Services for Viasat. In addition to being a good option for businesses outside the cable and fiber zone, Viasat’s Business Internet service also offers online continuity protection that Catalena says is something just about any business should consider.
With almost all types of businesses increasingly reliant on connectivity, having a “Plan B” for when primary service is interrupted is crucial, Catalena says. Whether it’s from a natural disaster, a fiber line cut by a construction crew of just a short primary ISP outage, a satellite backup with a failover router can turn a bad situation into a non-event.
In this interview with Alex Miller from Viasat Corporate Communications, Catalena runs through some of the basics about continuity service:
- Many businesses rely on cloud connectivity for a variety of business functions.
- Even a short outage can mean significant revenue loss for a business.
- Having a Viasat dish on the roof on standby is an affordable way to prevent outages from impacting business operations.
- Having continuity service through Viasat can mean a business’s primary internet can go down and business can continue uninterrupted.
Wednesday Sep 11, 2019
A UK update from Viasat’s Steve Beeching
Wednesday Sep 11, 2019
Wednesday Sep 11, 2019
In this episode of the Viasat podcast, we catch up with Steve Beeching, Managing Director of Viasat’s UK business. It’s clear the business Beeching heads up is growing, making key investments and developing cutting-edge, British-designed technology for the UK Ministry of Defense (MoD).
In an interview with Alex Miller with Viasat corporate communications, Beeching said Viasat’s UK business is growing its footprint in the UK and Europe and touched on a variety of topics:
- Modernization of ground and space networks for the UK Ministry of Defence
- Identifying the needs of the MoD to enhance its crypto technologies and cybersecurity capabilities
- Employing more economical and advanced technology capabilities with private sector entities such as Viasat
Thursday Aug 08, 2019
The latest on Viasat Europe with Evan Dixon
Thursday Aug 08, 2019
Thursday Aug 08, 2019
With residential service just starting in Spain, we catch up with the managing director of Viasat Europe
In this episode of the Viasat Podcast, Viasat Europe Managing Director Evan Dixon talks with host Alex Miller about the company’s activities in Europe. Some of the topics covered in the interview include:
- The recent introduction of residential service in Spain
- The challenges of meeting customer expectations in a variety of European countries
- How the upcoming ViaSat-3 satellite over Europe has the potential to greatly expand our offerings
- How Viasat is helping the European Commission reach its 2020 goal to have people in member countries have access to internet speeds of at least 30 Mbps