ND SatCom CEO Touts Zero Latency Product

ND Satcom, an SES Astra company, unveiled a product it believes sets new standards in terms of latency. The zero latency product, which has yet to be named or branded, is targeted mainly at international companies with overseas production or office facilities. NDSatCom officials believe the market could “bring several hundreds and thousands of installations in the next 12 months.”
Norbert Hölzle, appointed CEO of ND SatCom in March, discussed why he believes the marks a huge step forward for NDSatCom.

Offshore Communications e-daily: What are your expectations for the latency product?

Hölzle: When I initially saw this, I was a little skeptical, but at our headquarters, the new system was faster than my laptop. It is impressive. Inside the industry, you can talk about buzz words such as encryption, bits and bytes, but this will not win a customer outside the satcom industry. But if you are able to show customers that an SAP log-on can work in the desert, for example, that will be of interest.

Offshore Communications e-daily: Does this latency market open up new customer segments?

Hölzle: On the booth, we have had three customers that want to have a demonstration over the next few weeks, and they are definitely not using our modems right now. The combination of this solution with the newly launched SkyWan IDU 1070 modem is something that will definitely open up new markets.

Offshore Communications e-daily: How do you sell the product to a new customer base?

Hölzle: We will target business customers that need equipment in the field for business critical applications. One option is through our own sales force, another option is through a partnership model. In South Africa, for example, we go through the service provider Q-Kon, so if someone wants to buy this, we will forward them to Q-Kon, and we will build our partners for this type of system. We also have an interested South American partner organization. You have to map this on the sales channel, because you don’t want to tread on their toes. The most important thing is not just to develop the product, but how you sell it and go to the market. You have the danger that a partner may see you as a competitor, so we have to convince them they are not. We are not the biggest player in the modem field, but I think the latency product will help change the ball game for us.

Offshore Communications e-daily: Is the economic situation going to impact the take-up and customer wins?

Hölzle: The economic situation is recovering right now. We see this in our order books. Solutions such as the new zero latency product will definitely help us sell more satellite based technology.

Offshore Communications e-daily: Are you expecting revenues and profit growth in 2010?

Hölzle: For 2009, we expect stability, and in 2010, we expect growth again. Why do we expect stability? Because we have major projects with government services and they are not affected by the crisis right now. Around half of our revenues are derived from government services and half are coming from the commercial arena. Right now, we see that governments are doing more, and broadcasters are doing less.

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