[Satellite News 11-23-10] In coming years, the U.S. Department of Defense and other agencies of the federal government are expected to increase their dependence on commercial satellite services to augment and complement dedicated space-based communication platforms.
    In an interview with Satellite News, MTN Government Services (MTNGS) President Jim Ramsey shared his company’s supply-side perspective on why end-to-end managed VSAT solutions provider MTN felt the need to create a separate organization dedicated to future military satellite business.
    Ramsey, who retired from the U.S. Army with 26 years of service as a communications officer, served as the presidential communications officer in the White House for Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, and was appointed CIO of the 2004 G8 Summit. After several years in the private industry, Ramsey was recruited to head up the newly established MTNGS subsidiary.

Satellite News: Can you tell us why MTN decided to create a separate subsidiary dedicated to the government sector?

Ramsey: Military and government customers operate in a totally different environment than commercial customers and have unique communication requirements, such as security, mobility, bandwidth and – especially – purchasing vehicles. We concluded that these needs could best be addressed by a separate entity. We have assembled within MTNGS a talented and focused staff of experienced professionals, who have served in the military services and understand the unique issues involved in deploying satcoms worldwide for military and civilian government agencies.

Satellite News: Where does MTNGS fit within the MTN corporate structure?

Ramsey: Although we are a totally separate company, we are able to leverage MTN’s remarkably robust global VSAT network, which has been developed over the last 25 years. This infrastructure includes 32 overlapping C-Band and Ku-Band satellite beams, a secure Network Operation Center (NOC) and teleport facility in Holmdel, N.J., and a new teleport established this year in Santander, Spain, as a joint venture with Erzia. It also includes more than 30,000 miles of redundant fiber connections complete with alternate routing and alternate carriers, so there is no common sharing of services. Likewise, our teleport hubs are redundant with automatic failover.

Satellite News: What are your current service offerings for the government/military sector?

Ramsey: We offer complete VSAT managed service solutions, including C-Band, Ku-Band, X-Band and Ka-Band systems with data rates from 56 Kbps to 4 Mbps. We provide a wide range of VSAT hardware, including fixed sites, stabilized stations and transportable rapid-deployment packages. We work with system integrators and prime contractors to develop specific solutions to meet real-world commitments, including TDMA and SCPC solutions, installation and training. Importantly, our network architecture allows us to provide dedicated bandwidth for each VSAT user with a guaranteed 1:1 contention ratio, plus automatic on-demand burstability to higher bandwidth when needed, for instance when uploading or downloading large data files such as imagery. This is essential when it comes to supporting mission-critical communications for operators in the field.

Satellite News: As a VSAT supplier to the Pentagon, how will the new DISA purchasing program for satellite communications affect your business?

Ramsey: The Future COMSATCOM Services Acquisition (FCSA) program will be a “game changer” in our industry. I believe it will be a very positive development, and will speed the delivery of critical communications capacity to the warfighters deployed around the world. As a GSA Schedule 70 contractor, we have submitted proposals for the addition of two new SINs (132-54 and 132-55), as well as custom satcom solutions (CS2). We expect to see our first Schedule 70 contract award imminently.

Satellite News: What, in your opinion, is the near-term and mid-term future looking like for commercial satellite service providers in the military and government sectors?

Ramsey: There have been numerous studies conducted within the DoD showing that the demand for satellite connectivity will outpace the ability of the public sector to supply capacity over the coming decade. The demand for bandwidth and throughput for situational awareness, command and control, advanced weapons and intelligence systems will continue to grow at a very rapid rate over the next few years. For instance, the proliferation of UAVs for surveillance and other mission areas will eat up huge quantities of bandwidth. The private industry can devote the necessary resources to meet that demand in a timely and cost-effective manner. I learned as a communication officer in the U.S. Army that the private sector can bring to bear the technology, responsiveness and flexibility to fill the supply-demand gap when it comes to fully managed satellite communication solutions. In our future expectations, we see no likely falloff in the demand for commercial satellite capacity to augment and supplement dedicated DoD communication satellite bandwidth to meet the projected high level of military and government communication requirements. Even as combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, there will continue to be substantial communication requirements in those countries to support ongoing commitments.