July 03, 2007

US Monolithics Ka-band Transceiver Key Part of Expanded ViaSat, Inc. Contract With WildBlue Communications

 

ViaSat, Inc. announced that they have expanded their relationship with WildBlue Communications through a requirements contract to supply 500,000 Ka-band satellite terminals to be deployed by WildBlue on its WildBlue 1 and Anik F2 satellites.

 

US Monolithics, a ViaSat, Inc. subsidiary, has been the exclusive supplier of outdoor satellite transceiver electronics since the initial contract and played a critical role in the new contract expansion. Together with units already delivered, the number of terminals supplied by ViaSat is expected to exceed 750,000.

 

WildBlue and US Monolithics have had a long relationship focused on developing a customized, highly-integrated, low-cost Ka-band transceiver for the WildBlue consumer satellite service. The custom design transceiver combines a 3 Watt, 30 GHz block-up converter, and low noise block downconverter into a single compact housing.

 

Since the initial award, US Monolithics has continued to streamline the design and technology of the transceiver making it easier to produce using standard techniques at the lowest possible cost and in high volumes. The decrease in manufacturing cost due to the technological design was a key element in making the overall price of the terminal acceptable to the market.

 

See the full ViaSat Inc. release »

 

About US Monolithics

U.S. Monolithics, based in Chandler, Arizona, is a wholly owned subsidiary of ViaSat Inc., a producer of innovative satellite and other network communication products that enable fast, easy, secure, and efficient communications to any location. U.S. Monolithics focuses on providing superior, low-cost, MMIC-based products to the growing wireless telecommunications markets including satellite communications, point-to-point, and point-to-multipoint systems. U.S. Monolithics’ products include high-power Gallium Arsenide (GaAs) Monolithic Microwave Integrated Circuit (MMIC) components and multi-chip modules, including power amplifiers, transceivers, and integrated block converters.