Viasat Internet

Last updated
Viasat Internet
Inception2012
Current supplier Viasat
Website www.viasat.com

Viasat Internet was launched in 2012 through Viasat, Inc. and provides broadband internet to the United States. Viasat Internet service is powered by the ViaSat-1 satellite. [1] ViaSat-1 earned the Guinness World Record title for the highest capacity communications satellite. [2] The Viasat Internet service currently serves 687,000 customers in the U.S. [3] [4]

Contents

History

Launched in 2012 as Exede Internet, Viasat Internet is a broadband internet service that covers areas traditional terrestrial internet service providers do not reach. [1] In 2013, Exede introduced Exede Voice home service as a companion to the data service. [5] [6] [7]

Exede also offers Viasat Internet Business (originally Exede Business), which was launched in 2014 and Viasat Internet Enterprise (originally Exede Enterprise) for live events, field operations, and disaster response. [6] [8] Starting 2017-11-30, Exede was renamed Viasat Internet. [9]

ViaSat-1

The satellite ViaSat-1 was announced in 2008. Designed by Viasat and manufactured by Space Systems/Loral in Palo Alto, California, the satellite was completed in 2011. [10] It was launched from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan in October 2011 using a Proton Breeze M rocket. The satellite has a geostationary orbit over North America at 115.1° West longitude. ViaSat-1 has 72 spotbeams. [11] The satellite has 63 beams covering the continental USA and Hawaii, and 9 covering Canada through the Xplornet service. [12] The satellite weighs 6,740 kg [13] and has a 15-year operational life. [11] ViaSat-1 cost $400 million to produce and launch. [14] ViaSat-2, which launched in June 2017, expands the capacity and coverage of the Viasat Internet service. [1] [6] [8]

Internet

Viasat Internet is powered by Viasat's ViaSat-1 satellite. [2] [14] [15] [16] The satellite broadband internet was initially launched as a response to the lack of coverage provided by terrestrial services. [16] The 12 Mbit/s service from Viasat Internet was faster than earlier satellite internet access options such as WildBlue which could reach 1.5 Mbit/s. In 2016, a 25 Mbit/s download speed was introduced in some areas, as well as a new modem supporting the new speed tier that includes an integrated Wi-Fi router and VoIP adapter. [17]

The internet service covers most of the continental U.S., Alaska, and Hawaii. [14] [18] Between 2012 and 2015, the Federal Communications Commission has reported that Viasat Internet met and surpassed the advertised speeds. In the 2015 report, Viasat Internet download speeds were just over 100% of advertised, while upload speeds topped 150% of the advertised speeds. [19]

WiFi modem WiFi modem.png
WiFi modem

Viasat Internet likewise offers voice over IP residential phone service with its Viasat Voice Services. [14] DirecTV is one of the major retailers that offers Viasat Internet to its customers. [20] Dish Network resells the Viasat Internet service and other internet services under its own DishNet brand name. [21]

Viasat in-flight Wi-Fi

Through Exede Internet technology, Viasat offers in-flight Wi-Fi to connect airline passengers to broadband internet. [4] [18] [22] [23] ViaSat produces its own in-aircraft terminals that link ViaSat-1 using both Ka and Ku-band satellite networks to power the in-flight Wi-Fi. [22] The service is used by JetBlue and United Airlines, [6] [8] [18] as well as Virgin America, which uses the service to stream Netflix programming to passengers. [24] JetBlue started with 30 planes using the service. The fleet contained 190 aircraft using the service in 2014, [25] and 420 in November 2015. [4] The dual-band technology allows airlines to offer connectivity to over 150 customers at a time per plane. [22]

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References

  1. 1 2 3 Kevin Fitchard (August 13, 2014). "As satellite internet technology improves, Exede starts boosting its broadband caps". GigaOm. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Viasat Is High On Guinness...Exedes World Record For Highest Capacity Satellite". SatNews. March 7, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  3. ↑ Mike Freeman (February 10, 2015). "Viasat's earnings beat Wall Street estimates". UT San Diego. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 Viasat to rev up faster Internet with new satellite. Mike Freeman. November 9, 2015. San Diego Union Tribune. November 18, 2015
  5. ↑ Joan Engebretson (June 13, 2013). "Why Regulators Will Like Viasat Satellite Voice and Broadband Offering". TeleCompetitor. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "Viasat...FCC Reports Exede® Number 1—Again...Delivers On Promises Super Speedy". SatNews. June 18, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Viasat Is Adding Residential Telephone Service to Its Offerings". San Diego Business Journal. June 17, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  8. 1 2 3 "Viasat's... Unlimited Satellite Internet Service in U.S. Exede®s All Other Services". SatNews. August 12, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  9. ↑ Exede. "Starting today, we will begin retiring the Exede brand and renaming all of our services to Viasat". Twitter.
  10. ↑ "ViaSat-1 To Transform North American Satellite Broadband Market". TMC Net. January 8, 2008. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  11. 1 2 "Media Advisory: ILS Proton to launch ViaSat-1". ILS. October 14, 2011. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  12. ↑ Jeffrey Hill (February 15, 2012). "Telesat Launches Xplornet Services on ViaSat-1". Satellite Today. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  13. ↑ Peter B. de Selding (May 17, 2013). "ViaSat-2's 'First of its Kind' Design Will Enable Broad Geographic Reach". SpaceNews. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Sean Gallagher (January 10, 2012). "How Viasat's Exede makes satellite broadband not suck". ArsTechnica. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  15. ↑ Ray Willington (January 6, 2012). "New ViaSat Deal Could Brings 12Mbps Service To Rural Users Soon". Hot Hardware. Retrieved May 1, 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  16. 1 2 "Broadband's Moving to the Country". USA Today. March 27, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  17. ↑ Viasat Announces 25 Mbps In-Home Satellite Internet.November 18, 2015. CED Magazine. February 10, 2016
  18. 1 2 3 Mark Hachman (January 5, 2012). "Viasat Promises 12-Mbit/s Satellite Broadband for $50/Mo". PC Magazine. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  19. ↑ Mike Freeman (February 15, 2013). "FCC report: Viasat's Exede keeps promise on speed". UT San Diego. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  20. ↑ Mark Huffman (November 20, 2012). "DIRECTV and Exede to Bundle TV, Internet Service". Consumer Affairs. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  21. ↑ Martin LaMonica (January 9, 2012). "Dish blasts out high-speed satellite broadband". CNet. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  22. 1 2 3 "Bandwidth For All: ViaSat Future-Proofs Delivery". EVA International Media. Archived from the original on May 16, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
  23. ↑ Fast and Free In-Flight Wi-Fi Is Uncharted Territory for Airlines. Mike Tierney. November 2, 2015. New York Times. November 18, 2015
  24. ↑ NOW STREAMING NETFLIX – AT 35,000 FEET. September 29, 2015. Virgin America.February 10, 2016
  25. ↑ Mike Freeman (November 2, 2013). "Race heats up for faster, cheaper in-flight Wi-Fi". UT San Diego. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
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