Hard on the heels of its takeover of Inmarsat, global communications company Viasat has underlined the diversity of its markets and offerings with two very different deals in Ghana and Peru.
In Ghana Viasat has announced the launch of its first Real-Time Earth (RTE) facility in Africa, located in Accra. Viasat worked in partnership with the Ghana Space Science and Technology Institute (GSSTI), a government-based institution. With this new station, Viasat says its RTE global network is now active in five continents.
Viasat RTE provides ground-station-as-a-service (GSaaS) capabilities in support of environmental, insurance, shipping, energy and government operations. It is a fully managed, affordable ground network that supports next-generation and legacy geosynchronous equatorial orbit (GEO), medium earth orbit (MEO) and low earth orbit (LEO) satellites using the S-, X-, and Ka-bands, enabling operators to meet current and future data requirements.
Viasat's Ghana RTE satellite ground station facility is located at the Ghana Radio Astronomy Observatory, Kuntunse. It includes a Viasat full-motion 7.3 metre S/X/Ka-band antenna and associated infrastructure. The antenna is currently ready to provide global satellite operators the ability to perform telemetry, tracking and command capabilities as well as rapidly download, stream and/or disseminate valuable satellite-based data in a timely and secure manner.
In Peru meanwhile, Viasat Inc and Intercorp Peru, one of Latin America's largest business groups, which is focused on providing financial, retail and education services, have entered into a definitive agreement to bring digital and social inclusion to communities in Latin America and the Caribbean using Viasat's satellite-enabled Community Internet system.
The two companies have been working together to assess geographic markets and to develop the infrastructures, ecosystems, business models and applications needed to successfully bring high-quality connectivity to the hardest-to-reach communities.