Viasat Ramps Satellite Services in the Middle East and Western Europe Ahead of ViaSat-3 Launch

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global communications company, today announced it signed a Ka-band capacity lease agreement with Avanti Communications Group plc (Avanti) to provide additional coverage and capacity across the Middle East and Western Europe—ahead of its ViaSat-3 global constellation—to support Viasat's expanding global mobility and enterprise businesses, specifically across aviation, maritime and energy.

Viasat and Avanti have a long-standing relationship, having signed prior Ka-band capacity lease agreements. 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.

Avanti's CEO, Kyle Whitehill said, "We are delighted to extend our relationship with Viasat and provide them support in the delivery of broadband connectivity across Europe and the Middle East. In-flight connectivity, in particular, is a high growth segment for satellite connectivity, and will serve Viasat well, enabling them to offer seamless connectivity capabilities across geographies."

Jimmy Dodd, president, Viasat Global Enterprise and Mobility added, "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)."

Viasat plans to leverage Avanti's HYLAS 4 and HYLAS 2 satellites beginning in October 2021.