This is an excerpt of a recent Thursday Morning Conversation video, available to Via Satellite Free, Basic, and Premium members.

Mauricio Segovia, CEO of AXESS Networks, recently sat down with Via Satellite for a Thursday Morning Conversation.  Segovia talks about taking the helm of a new company just before the global pandemic, and the geographies and verticals that he is targeting for growth.

VIA SATELLITE: The Axesat and CETel merger into AXESS Networks was one of the biggest pieces of consolidation we’ve seen over the last few years. What has the challenge been like for you to manage the company over the last year? 

Segovia: Six months after we started, the pandemic started. I had very good knowledge of the American side of the business, and I was getting to know the German side, which provides services in Africa and the Middle East. I would have liked to have the opportunity to travel more, and travel to customers and understand more how the markets work. Maybe that’s the biggest challenge, getting enough information on the market and the type of customers that we have. [Doing] all of that virtually makes it harder. 

We still want to continue to join forces with other companies, and maybe do some more acquisitions. Growing organically is really hard to do virtually, that needs a lot of face-to-face, real-life communications. That’s not happening, so that has been slowed down during this year. There are some opportunities for us out there that haven’t moved along as quickly as we would have liked. 

VIA SATELLITE: When the creation of AXESS was announced, I thought it was one of the most interesting stories in a while because one company was very well known in Latin America, and one was very well known in Europe. You don’t see many examples of bringing together those two types of companies. From a cultural standpoint, what has it been like to blend the two company cultures into one new company culture?

Segovia: It’s been an interesting process. There’s clearly cultural differences, but I think that up to this point, it has worked very well because they complement each other. In Latin America, you tend to have some information, dive into [a project], and then correct as you move along. Sometimes that causes trouble because you didn’t have enough information to start with. Our German team is a lot more conservative in making decisions. Once they have all the information to feel comfortable, they will go ahead and make that first step. When they’re working together, I think it’s a good complement and the company has been doing really well in terms of the teams and the culture. 

VIA SATELLITE: What sort of growth opportunities do you see for the company? 

Segovia: We see growth opportunities everywhere — in the Americas, in Africa, in the Middle East. I think we can do a lot more in the Middle East and Africa. I expect over time to have more growth there than we do in the Americas. 

In terms of verticals, we’ve been doing very well in cellular backhaul, and I expect that to continue. We’ve been doing very well in the recovery of oil and gas. We have some new ventures, we’re starting to invest in different areas where we don’t have a strong presence today — one of which will be maritime. We think there’s an opportunity there for a lot of business, even though there’s established players. 

We’re looking at expanding our geographic footprint. We would like to have a better presence in Asia, but it’s a lot more difficult. The market is more fragmented; there aren’t a lot of established players that have a complete presence in all of Asia. We are still looking at ways of how we can expand to the region. 

VIA SATELLITE: What might you be doing in maritime this year? Do you have any specific plans that you can share with us? 

Segovia: We do have plans, but unfortunately I cannot share yet. But hopefully you will see a lot more of us in terms of maritime. 

VIA SATELLITE: What’s your overall view of the state of the satellite market now? We’ve seen some big LEO announcements this year and last year, and other big news stories like Speedcast. As someone that’s trying to build new revenue streams, what do you see as the current state of the industry?

Segovia: I’m very bullish, very optimistic. There’s tons of ideas, tons of investment and resources being put into our industry, and I think a lot of it will have an important impact on how we evolve over time. There’s so many new technologies, and so many new opportunities will arise from those new technologies. I think we have a very promising future.