by Jason Bates

As FSS CEOs reminded everyone Tuesday, at the heart of business is competition, which drives companies to innovate and keeps prices as low as possible. It’s the reason FSS players want to see more launch vehicles and more satellite manufacturers in the market, and it’s the reason bandwidth consumers want the FSS operators to have more capacity available.

   Wednesday’s discussions at SATELLITE 2010 will feature several areas of the satellite arena where competition is beginning to ramp up. The opening session, “Solutions and New Opportunities: The MSS CEOs Speak Out,”  features executives from Thuraya, Iridium, TerreStar, Globalstar and Inmarsat, which have avoided long-discussed consolidation and developed next-generation systems that promise to make them more competitive with each other and with similar services provided by alternative technologies.

  The Asia-Pacific region is growing again after years of being mired in a capacity glut. Executives from Intelsat, Asia Broadcast Satellite, AsiaSat and SES World Skies will discuss the lessons learned from the past and how they are being applied during the “Asia Pacific: The Making of a Mega-Market” session.

  A new panel at SATELLITE 2010 will examine a market that is becoming extremely competitive in terms of supplying hardware and broadcast capacity. During the “Uniting the Faithful: Spreading the Word Universal via Satellite” session, panelists such as  Rob Branch, broadcast technical consultant, Calvary Technical Management, and David Schatzman, technical director, McLean Bible Church, will discuss what they are seeking in terms of the latest in technology and services in order to serve their flocks.

  Also on Wednesday, we honor Via Satellite’s 2009 Executive of the Year — Peter Shaper, CEO of CapRock Communications. Join us for Satellite Executive of the Year Award Presentation Luncheon at 11:30 a.m., and hear Shaper discuss the moves that kept CapRock ahead of its competition.

Visit SatelliteTODAY.tv to view an exclusive interview with Peter Shaper, CEO of CapRock Communications.

Jason Bates, Editor, talks with Peter Shaper about the company’s performance that helped him win Via Satellite’s 2009 Satellite Executive of the Year award. Shaper also discusses CapRock’s efforts in providing communications services for the military, maritime and oil and gas segments; how serving those markets has evolved; and what customers will need from communications providers in the future.