[Satellite TODAY 09-20-10] Artel, an information technology and managed telecom/network services provider, was named the first contractor to provide satellite services under a new $5 billion U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and U.S. Defense Information Services Agency (DISA) joint-contract vehicle, Artel announced Sept. 17.
    The 10-year Future ComSatCom Services Acquisition (FCSA) combines the U.S. military’s ComSatCom acquisition vehicles DSTS-G and Inmarsat with GSA’s SatCom2, which will allow Artel and others to compete for orders government wide. Artel currently manages over 5.5 GHz of capacity worldwide
    “From the U.S. Department of Defense and intelligence community to civilian agencies like the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and FEMA, among others, satellite-based communications are often the only reliable means of sharing information where land-line capabilities don’t exist or have been destroyed,” Artel President and CEO Abbas Yazdani said in a statement.
    Through FCSA, the government can acquire any part of or a fully managed end-to-end satellite services solution in any commercially available ComSatCom frequency band, including L-, S-, C-, X-, Ku-, extended Ku-, Ka- and UHF.
     The multiple-award schedule and indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity FCSA, a joint venture established in August 2009 between the GSA and DISA, replaces satellite communications contracts that will expire over the next two-and-a-half years. FCSA is open to defense and civilian agencies as well as state, local and tribal governments; public schools and colleges; and public authorities.
    A key feature of the FCSA is that it will allow the government to add companies to the list of suppliers and permit those companies to update the capabilities they provide throughout the life of the contract.
In March, Kevin Gallo, a GSA satellite communications services program manager told Satellite 2010 atendees that his agency’s involvement in administering the program would, “not add an additional layer of bureaucracy to the military’s process for procuring satellite capacity.”

New XTAR President, COO Highlights Opportunities in the X-band Market    Satellite News   June 8, 2010
[Satellite News 06-07-10] Former CapRock CTO Philip Harlow has found a new position at XTAR as its president and COO, responsible for the growth and strategic direction of XTAR s global X-band business as well as overseeing management, marketing…

Military and Industry Officials Hope FCSA Contract Improves Communications   Satellite Today   March 17, 2010
by Sam Silverstein U.S. military officials responsible for procuring commercial satellite communications services and the companies that serve those needs are abuzz over a new contracting mechanism they hope will streamline the federal…

MTN Wins $50 Million DISA Contract   Satellite Today   March 17, 2010
[Satellite TODAY 03-17-10] The U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) awarded MTN Government Services a contract worth more than $50 million to provide global broadband satellite services for five years, MTN announced March 16.