WASHINGTON — ViaSat Corp., a provider of satellite communications terminals, is thinking about moving up the food chain. The Carlsbad, Calif., company is asking the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to license a Ka-band broadband satellite as one way of addressing what ViaSat Chief Executive Mark Dankberg said is an ongoing shortage of Ka-band capacity in orbit.

“What we are about is creating a market,” Dankberg said Feb. 22 in explaining the company’s decision to seek a license for its own satellite. “The lack of capacity constrains the market, and right now there is not enough capacity. People want more bits at the lowest cost. It’s as simple as that. What we are looking at is: How do we create that market? We are seriously exploring every opportunity to create capacity.”

ViaSat also announced it has acquired Intelligent Compression Technologies Inc. (ICT) of Quincy, Mass., in a transaction initially valued at approximately $20 million.

The purchase price includes approximately $6.5 million in cash and more than 400,000 shares of ViaSat stock. The transaction ultimately could be worth up to $34.3 million if ICT meets financial performance targets in the next two years.

« Back to news archive