Viasat Inc., a 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Winner, and Facebook are working together to accelerate the deployment of affordable, high-speed, high-quality internet to communities that lack reliable internet or have no connectivity at all.

The two companies are working together to make the internet accessible to more people in rural areas around the world – starting with our neighbor to the south, Mexico.

The collaboration between Viasat and Facebook will to help accelerate the deployment of Viasat’s market-leading satellite-enabled Community Wi-Fi hotspot service, which is an innovative, proven approach to bringing high-speed, affordable Wi-Fi directly to consumer’s devices, where internet service was previously ineffective or unavailable.

The Viasat service requires minimal local infrastructure, is highly-sustainable and rapidly scalable in emerging markets where large gaps exist among demand, affordability and availability of internet services.

As part of this project, Viasat will place high-speed satellite Wi-Fi hotspots, delivered as an affordable pre-paid service, at thousands of rural locations.

(Everyone deserves to be connected. Viasat’s Community Wi-Fi service delivers internet connectivity to communities in Mexico that never had access before now. Watch how these residents in remote parts of Mexico have had their lives positively impacted through internet access. Courtesy of Viasat and YouTube. Posted on Apr 12, 2018.)

Facebook is working with Viasat to help identify optimal deployment locations within Viasat’s current and planned satellite coverage, and investing in the roll-out.

“Facebook is committed to working with industry partners around the world to help bring more people online to a faster internet,” said Dan Rabinovitsj, vice president, Facebook Connectivity.

“Viasat’s rapidly growing Community Wi-Fi hotspot service, already available to over one million people in rural Mexico, is an example of a model that can help overcome the global connectivity challenges of accessibility and affordability, particularly in hard to reach rural areas.”

“We are excited to partner with an industry leader like Viasat to accelerate Wi-Fi network deployments.”

“Our joint initiative will enable more people to connect with friends and family, share knowledge and access education and career opportunities.”

The collaborative effort will initially focus on Mexico, bringing internet connectivity to remote regions of the country, while pursuing opportunities to expand the project globally.

“Enabling the next four billion internet users to come online is one of the grand challenges of our time – and participating in that is also one of the most exciting and rewarding opportunities of the mobile internet era,” said Mark Dankberg, chairman and CEO, Viasat.

“Rural communities, especially in emerging markets, are often the hardest to serve economically, yet are a vivid example of how Viasat’s innovative space communication systems can bring broadband communication services to the places that need it most, at the lowest bandwidth costs.”

“We are pleased with the support that Facebook is bringing to our initiative and excited about the opportunity to accelerate the pace at which we can scale.”

Viasat is seeing rapid growth in its Community Wi-Fi service in Mexico, having brought the internet within reach to more than one million Mexican citizens, delivering up to 100 Megabit per second speeds at affordable prices, in less than one year since the company’s launch.

Today, Viasat’s Community Wi-Fi service leverages the world’s most advanced high-capacity satellite, ViaSat-2, and they are currently building a global constellation of three next-generation ultra-high-capacity satellites, known as the ViaSat-3 class of satellites, to bring affordable high-speed, high-quality internet connectivity to even the hardest areas to reach on earth.

Viasat Takes Platinum in the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program

Viasat

• Best Cyber Security Program for Government or Military

• VIP Aircraft High-Speed Internet Servic

The Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program is specifically designed to honor distinguished government and vendor solutions that deliver enhanced value, benefit and intelligence to end users in a variety of government, homeland security and public safety vertical markets.

The 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Program drew an overwhelming response from industry leaders with a record high number of corporate and government nominations received, as well as record breaking ‘ASTORS’ Presentation Luncheon Attendees, with top firms trying to register for the exclusive high – end luncheon and networking opportunity – right up to the event kickoff on Wednesday afternoon, at the ISC East registration!

Over 130 distinguished guests representing National, State and Local Governments, and Industry Leading Corporate Firms, gathered from across North America, Europe and the Middle East to be honored among their peers in their respective fields which included:

• The Department of Homeland Security
• The Federal Protective Service (FPS)
• Argonne National Laboratory
• The Department of Homeland Security
• The Department of Justice
• The Security Exchange Commission Office of Personnel Management
• U.S. Customs and Border Protection
• Viasat, Hanwha Techwin, Lenel, Konica Minolta Business Solutions, Verint, Canon U.S.A., BriefCam, Pivot3, Milestone Systems, Allied Universal, Ameristar Perimeter Security and More!

The Annual ‘ASTORS’ Awards is the preeminent U.S. Homeland Security Awards Program highlighting the most cutting-edge and forward-thinking security solutions coming onto the market today, to ensure our readers have the information they need to stay ahead of the competition, and keep our Nation safe – one facility, street, and city at a time.

The 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program was Proudly Sponsored by ATI Systems, Attivo Networks, Automatic Systems, Desktop Alert, and Royal Holdings Technologies.

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards at https://americansecuritytoday.com/ast-awards/.

Comprehensive List of Categories Include:

Don’t see a Direct Hit for your Product, Agency or Organization?

Submit your category recommendation for consideration to Michael Madsen, AST Publisher at: mmadsen@americansecuritytoday.com.

2018 Champions Edition

See the 2018 ‘ASTORS’ Champions Edition – ‘Best Products of 2018 ‘ Year in Review’ for in-depth coverage of the outstanding products and services of firms receiving American Security Today’s 2018‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards.’

Nominations for the AST 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program will officially open as of January 1st, 2019 at americansecuritytoday.com.

Enter Early to Maximize Media Coverage of your Products and Services at Kickoff, and Get the Recognition Your Organization Deserves!

And be sure to Register Early for the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Awards Presentation Luncheon at ISC East 2019 to ensure your place at this limited- space event!

2018 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Luncheon at ISC East

Why the 2019 ‘ASTORS’ Homeland Security Awards Program?

American Security Today’s comprehensive Annual Homeland Security Awards Program is organized to recognize the most distinguished vendors of physical, IT, port security, law enforcement, and first responders, in acknowledgment of their outstanding efforts to ‘Keep our Nation Secure, One City at a Time.’

Why American Security Today?

American Security Today is uniquely focused on the broader Homeland Security & Public Safety marketplace with over 70,000 readers at the Federal, State and local levels of government as well as firms allied to government.

The old traditional security marketplace has been covered by a host of security publications that have changed little over many years.

American Security Today brings forward a fresh compelling look and read with our customized digital publications that provides our readers with solutions to their challenges.

Our Editorial staff provides a full plate of topics for our AST monthly digital editions, AST Website and AST Daily News Alerts.

The editorial calendar and AST’s high drawing website features 23 different Technology and Marketing Sectors such as Access Control, Perimeter Protection, Video Surveillance/Analytics, Airport Security, Border Security, CBRNE Detection, Border Security, Ports, Cybersecurity, Networking Security, Encryption, Law Enforcement, First Responders, Campus Security, Security Services, Corporate Facilities and Emergency Response among others.

These sectors are part of the new integration, where these major applications communicate with one another in a variety of solutions to protect our cities and critical infrastructure.

AST has Expanded readership into vital Critical Infrastructure audiences such as Protection of Nuclear Facilities, Water Plants & Dams, Bridges & Tunnels, and other Potential targets of terrorism.

Other areas of concern include Transportation Hubs, Public Assemblies, Government Facilities, Sporting & Concert Stadiums, our Nation’s Schools & Universities, and Commercial Business Destinations – enticing targets for extremist or lone wolf attacks due to the large number of persons and resources clustered together.

For more than 30 years,www.viasat.com 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.