[Satellite News 04-19-10] AsiaSat will have a new CEO in July when William Wade takes over from Peter Jackson. While Jackson will become executive chairman, the shift marks a new era for the operator and the end of Jackson’s 17-year run as CEO.
     In an interview with Satellite News, Jackson reflected on the ups and downs of his career and discussed how the industry has developed over the last two decades.

Jackson: We are not the cheapest satellite operator out there, but our customers have always been prepared to pay for our quality service. When AsiaSat 3 failed, the fact that we had launched a replacement early and were able to launch AsiaSat 3S well before AsiaSat 1 ran out of fuel provided our customers with the continuity of service that they required. After all, the decision to launch early theoretically reduced the effective in orbit life of AsiaSat 1 by 22 percent, was not an insignificant one.

Jackson: I [am pround] that we took AsiaSat from a one-satellite private company to a multi-satellite public company, and we paid out dividends to our shareholders every year. The fact that we were financially able to plan and implement a backup plan for each launch by either launching early or commencing to build a replacement took financial muscle and we had a business model that could support it even with a few satellites.
    AsiaSat has always been good at looking ahead and planning for the very long term, I think that is something of which we should be proud. But thinking back, it is probably our single-minded dedication to customer service is what I am most proud of.

Jackson: The biggest surprise for me was when ProtoStar launched two satellites in two slots which were not coordinated. How did they ever raise the money to do that? That really did shock me and perhaps the whole industry.

Jackson: Even in the economic downturn we were always financially ready to acquire or merge with other satellite operators. The fact that we were not able to realize those plans is something I will not wish to be remembered for, but instead we diversified and started new associate companies that used our capacity.

Jackson: The satellites the industry uses have not really changed dramatically in the last two decades other than the power of the transponders. We have moved from low-power, multiple-beam, highly switchable satellites to high-power satellites with a smaller number of beams back to high-power, multiple beams. Now we will move to high-power, switchable multiple beam satellites.
    The biggest impact has been the radiated power and the ability to reduce the size of the dish or the antennas on the ground. This has been the major factor in allowing new applications. It will be interesting to see what satellites will be used for in the future. Will they still be used for the same things going forward? I doubt it. I think there will be a strong development of specialist applications using satellites as either the primary or back-up communications channel, but the main application will still be the broadcast of broadband data streams to small receiving dishes.

Jackson: In terms of the overall strategy, satellite companies have to think and execute their plans 18 years ahead, so it is difficult to dramatically change the short-term direction of the ship halfway into the voyage of the latest satellite. Bill and I see eye-to-eye with the board in terms of future growth, applications and investments, so I don’t think the strategy will move considerably, but as a satellite operator, you look at this all the time and you are always planning your next satellite.