Viasat Internet
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]
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Inception | 2012 |
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Current supplier | Viasat |
Website | www |
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, Alaska 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] Initially the satellite broadband internet was 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 or surpassed advertised speeds. In the 2015 report, Viasat Internet download speeds were just over 100% of advertised, while upload speeds topped 150% of advertised speeds.[19]
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Viasat Internet also 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]
References
- Kevin Fitchard (August 13, 2014). "As satellite internet technology improves, Exede starts boosting its broadband caps". GigaOm. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- "Viasat Is High On Guinness...Exedes World Record For Highest Capacity Satellite". SatNews. March 7, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- Mike Freeman (February 10, 2015). "Viasat's earnings beat Wall Street estimates". UT San Diego. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- Viasat to rev up faster Internet with new satellite. Mike Freeman. November 9, 2015. San Diego Union Tribune. November 18, 2015
- Joan Engebretson (June 13, 2013). "Why Regulators Will Like Viasat Satellite Voice and Broadband Offering". TeleCompetitor. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- "Viasat...FCC Reports Exede® Number 1—Again...Delivers On Promises Super Speedy". SatNews. June 18, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- "Viasat Is Adding Residential Telephone Service to Its Offerings". San Diego Business Journal. June 17, 2013. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- "Viasat's... Unlimited Satellite Internet Service in U.S. Exede®s All Other Services". SatNews. August 12, 2014. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- Exede. "Starting today, we will begin retiring the Exede brand and renaming all of our services to Viasat". Twitter.
- "ViaSat-1 To Transform North American Satellite Broadband Market". TMC Net. January 8, 2008. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- "Media Advisory: ILS Proton to launch ViaSat-1". ILS. October 14, 2011. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- Jeffrey Hill (February 15, 2012). "Telesat Launches Xplornet Services on ViaSat-1". Satellite Today. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- 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.
- Sean Gallagher (January 10, 2012). "How Viasat's Exede makes satellite broadband not suck". ArsTechnica. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- Ray Willington (January 6, 2012). "New ViaSat Deal Could Brings 12Mbps Service To Rural Users Soon". Hot Hardware. Retrieved May 1, 2015.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
- "Broadband's Moving to the Country". USA Today. March 27, 2012. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- Viasat Announces 25 Mbps In-Home Satellite Internet.November 18, 2015. CED Magazine. February 10, 2016
- Mark Hachman (January 5, 2012). "Viasat Promises 12-Mbit/s Satellite Broadband for $50/Mo". PC Magazine. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- Mike Freeman (February 15, 2013). "FCC report: Viasat's Exede keeps promise on speed". UT San Diego. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- Mark Huffman (November 20, 2012). "DIRECTV and Exede to Bundle TV, Internet Service". Consumer Affairs. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- Martin LaMonica (January 9, 2012). "Dish blasts out high-speed satellite broadband". CNet. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- "Bandwidth For All: ViaSat Future-Proofs Delivery". EVA International Media. Archived from the original on May 16, 2015. Retrieved May 1, 2015.
- Fast and Free In-Flight Wi-Fi Is Uncharted Territory for Airlines. Mike Tierney. November 2, 2015. New York Times. November 18, 2015
- NOW STREAMING NETFLIX – AT 35,000 FEET. September 29, 2015. Virgin America.February 10, 2016
- Mike Freeman (November 2, 2013). "Race heats up for faster, cheaper in-flight Wi-Fi". UT San Diego. Retrieved May 1, 2015.