Viasat sizes up BEAD opportunity

Viasat intends to toss its hat into the ring for the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program following the recent launch of a new high-capacity satellite that will enable the company to deliver speeds in excess of 100 Mbps nationwide. Calling the launch of its first ViaSat-3 satellite a "game-changer" for states poised to bring in BEAD dollars, Viasat said it intends to concentrate its push for funding on "Extremely High-Cost" areas that are expensive to reach with fiber. ViaSat-3, a geosynchronous (GEO) satellite packed with about 1 Tbit/s of capacity, was lofted into orbit on the evening of April 30, 2023 aboard a SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket. Viasat expects the satellite to complete its journey to its final orbital location (89.9 degrees west longitude) in less than three weeks and begin service to the Americas region in mid-2023. Viasat said the new satellite will enable the company to offer speeds of 100 Mbit/s downstream nationwide, with plans underway to offer speeds up to 150 Mbps in some markets. Some plans for US businesses will offer upload speeds of up to 20 Mbps in some markets. Among the potential concerns with GEO-based satellite broadband architectures are high latencies that don't provide strong support for certain interactive applications such as online gaming.