The Hylas 2 satellite. Photo: Avanti

Viasat has taken steps to improve its position in Western Europe and the Middle East ahead of the launch of its ViaSat-3 constellation. The company has reached a deal with Avanti Communications for additional coverage and capacity across the Middle East and Western Europe. Viasat announced the deal June 3, but did not disclose the financial terms, or the length of the contract.

The deal with Avanti will help support Viasat’s expanding global mobility and enterprise businesses, specifically across aviation, maritime, and energy. This new agreement augments Viasat’s KA-SAT satellite coverage and capacity and will initially be leveraged to serve new mobility customers in the region. Viasat plans to leverage Avanti’s HYLAS 4 and HYLAS 2 satellites beginning in October 2021.

“In working with Avanti, we can bring additional short-term capacity to the mobility and enterprise markets, enabling us to serve more customers, win new business and establish deeper market presence and penetration ahead of our ViaSat-3 satellite launch aimed over Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA),” Jimmy Dodd, president of Viasat Global Enterprise and Mobility said in a statement.