[Satellite Today 09-08-08] ViaSat has received a $50 million contract award from Skylogic, the broadband subsidiary of Eutelsat Communications, to provide ground infrastructure for the Ka-Sat satellite system, ViaSat announced Sept. 8.
    According to ViaSat, the terms of the contract require the company to deliver and install broadband equipment for 10 Ka-Sat gateways in Europe. The gateways will connect subscribers of Eutelsat’s Tooway satellite broadband service to the Internet. The ground infrastructure will be available prior to the launch of Ka-Sat, scheduled for third quarter 2010.
    In January, Eutelsat and ViaSat ordered a pair of Ka-band satellites under a collaboration to develop more satellite broadband capacity. Ka-Sat will serve the European market, while the ViaSat-1 satellite will target the North American market. ViaSat and Eutelsat are cooperating around ViaSat’s Ka-band SurfBeam networking system and a similar wholesale business model that works through ISPs, telecommunications companies and pay-TV platforms to serve subscribers.
    “The ViaSat ground infrastructure and our Ka-Sat satellite work hand-in-hand to supply the higher capacity, lower-cost bandwidth that is required to successfully meet the requirements of the satellite consumer broadband market,” Giuliano Berretta, chairman and CEO of Eutelsat, said in a statement. “This new contract marks another step towards delivering our Ka-Sat broadband program and further cements our long-standing relationship with ViaSat as our satellite ground equipment partner.”