CARLSBAD, Calif., March 2, 2023 -- Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global communications company, today announced it has reached non-binding Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) with Ligado Networks and Skylo Technologies intended to offer first generation standards based Direct-to-Device (D2D) satellite services via Ligado’s SkyTerra satellite network. Viasat and Ligado have already partnered closely for years to provide a range of Mobile Satellite Services over SkyTerra.
The expanded agreement intends to add Skylo’s technology for 3GPP Release-17 NTN industry standard waveforms and spectrum and also adds their sales and services capabilities to the team. Ligado’s SkyTerra-1 satellite network can enable these services over North America and surrounding waters. The partners aim to bring smartphone messaging, wearable connectivity, and IoT services enabling cellular devices to connect seamlessly via satellite rapidly to some of the world’s most attractive markets.
The companies intend to launch commercial services in 2023 across a broad range of market segments, including consumer smartphone, automotive, and defense applications.
“The 3GPP NB-IoT standards, delivered over Ligado’s powerful SkyTerra-1 satellite, can help to rapidly enable a broad range of innovative services using on orbit Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) networks,” said Mark Dankberg, Chairman and CEO, Viasat. “Adding Skylo to our partnership with Ligado can help accelerate inclusion of first generation direct to satellite connectivity for a broad range of devices. Longer term, we believe space-based networks can help scale these applications by substantially increasing network data rates and capacity; increasing service convenience and availability; and reducing costs.”
Ligado Networks President and CEO Doug Smith added, “Viasat has consistently delivered trusted, high-quality services to its global customer base, and we’re looking forward to expanding our longstanding collaboration with them to fully leverage our unique satellite capabilities and to create a path for further evolution of our services to meet the demand for increasingly capable D2D connectivity.”
“Enterprise IoT and consumer device markets are now demanding ubiquitous global coverage for applications such as logistics, agriculture, energy, maritime and emergency or out-of-coverage messaging,” said Parth Trivedi, CEO and co-founder of Skylo. “This collaboration unlocks a fantastic opportunity to develop an entirely new set of connectivity solutions for a rapidly expanding market.”
About Viasat
Viasat is a global communications company that believes everyone and everything in the world can be connected. For more than 35 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the world communicate. Today, the Company is developing the ultimate global communications network to power high-quality, secure, affordable, fast connections to impact people’s lives anywhere they are—on the ground, in the air or at sea. To learn more about Viasat, visit: www.viasat.com, go to Viasat’s Corporate Blog, or follow the Company on social media at: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube.
About Ligado Networks
Building on 25 years of experience providing crucial satellite connectivity, our mission is to bring versatile, mobile connectivity to the businesses, people and places that need it most. Our satellite and terrestrial solutions, combined with powerful, lower mid-band spectrum, serve to supplement and broaden mobile coverage across the United States and Canada. Our innovative satellite and terrestrial network deployment plans will help pave the way for future innovations and economic growth across America. For more information, visit Ligado’s website at ligado.com.
About Skylo
Skylo Technologies is an NTN service provider based in Palo Alto, CA, offering a service that allows cellular modems and devices to connect directly over existing satellites. Devices connected over satellite are managed and served by Skylo’s commercial NTN vRAN, featuring a 3GPP standards-based cloud-native base station and core. Skylo works with existing satellite operators, terrestrial mobile network operators, and device makers to provide subscribers an anywhere, anytime connectivity solution that seamlessly roams between terrestrial and satellite networks. Skylo’s focus is on enabling connected services for people outdoors and connected workflows for machines at work across critical industries such as agriculture, maritime, logistics, mining, and others, in addition to mass-market consumer devices. For more information, visit www.skylo.tech, contact info@skylo.tech, or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbors created under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include statements about Viasat’s entry into the Direct-to-Device (D2D) satellite services market; the strategic collaboration with Ligado Networks and Skylo Technologies, including the expected launch date of commercial services and geographic and market segments to be targeted; and the expected increase in data rates and capacity, increase in service convenience and availability, and cost reductions provided by space-based networks. Readers are cautioned that actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include: risks associated with the construction, launch and operation of satellites, including the effect of any anomaly, operational failure or degradation in satellite performance, contractual problems, product defects, manufacturing issues or delays, regulatory issues, changes in relationships with, or the financial condition of, Ligado Networks or Skylo Technologies, technologies not being developed according to anticipated schedules, or that do not perform according to expectations, and increased competition and other factors affecting the D2D sector generally. In addition, please refer to the risk factors contained in Viasat’s SEC filings available at www.sec.gov, including Viasat’s most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Viasat undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements for any reason.
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