This company’s value proposition goes above and beyond the benefits satellite technology offers. Andreas Georghiou explains.

Vertical integration and outstanding customer service are the foundation on which Andreas Georghiou and his team have built their high-flying satellite communications business, providing highly reliable service to customers ranging from individuals to Fortune 500 companies.

Based in McLean, Va., Spacenet provides wireless and hybrid terrestrial broadband services for businesses, government, and home and small office customers. The company was originally founded in 1981 by the Southern Pacific Railroad as a communications subsidiary. In 1998, the company was purchased by Gilat Satellite Networks, one of the world’s leading providers of two-way, satellite-based communications using VSAT (very small aperture terminal) technology.

According to Andreas Georghiou, CEO of Spacenet, the purchase by Gilat created a vertically integrated company. “The equipment we use to provide services to our customers is manufactured by our sister company,” he said. In addition, another sister company, Spacenet Rural Communications, provides rural telephony to remote regions of the world where cell phone access and ground telephone lines are unavailable.

Andreas Georghiou, CEO

Given these advantages, Spacenet is targeting a range of industries that can benefit from a satellite network. For instance, key customers include Intercontinental Hotels Group (Holiday Inn) and Bob Evans in the hospitality industry, Sunoco and Chevron in the oil and gas industry, and Dollar General and Goodyear in the retail industry. The company also serves the healthcare and financial services industries and aids in business continuity and disaster recovery efforts.

“Quite frankly, the uptime on a satellite network is higher than the typical ground network, and satellite can be offered as a hybrid network to serve as a seamless backup solution in the case of a disruption or network outage. I saw a news story from the Washington, DC area the other day that a construction equipment operator accidentally cut a regional communications line, leaving thousands of customers without phone or Internet access for days, and many businesses could not perform basic functions, including credit transactions,” said Georghiou. “This is a perfect example of the value of satellite as a redundant communications solution for terrestrial networks.”

Spacenet also offers satellite networks to government agencies, including a large civilian agency that operates thousands of sites across the country, some of them in remote locations where cell phone towers and ground lines are difficult to establish. “Over the past few years, government agencies have increasingly recognized the value of satellite communications for a variety of uses, including mission-critical network applications and mobility solutions,” said Georghiou.

Customers first
Spacenet doesn’t rely on satellite technology’s proven benefits to get ahead. Instead, its customer intimacy model has distinguished it from the competition. “With 250 employees, we are not the biggest company providing satellite network services, and our solutions are not always the least expensive, but we believe that our solutions are backed by a level of customer service that far exceeds that of the competition,” said Georghiou, explaining that all employees are trained to put customers’ needs first.

To keep the customer intimacy model at the fore, Spacenet is currently rolling out Spacenet University, a series of courses taught by a combination of inside experts, as well as knowledgeable individuals from outside the company. Employees can not only sharpen their technical skills, but also take courses focusing on professional and personal development. The company’s renewal rates are well over 90%, and positive anecdotal evidence tells Georghiou that this model is successful.

According to Georghiou, satellite offers many advantages, including its ability to support fully converged voice, data, and video communications on a single platform, and there are many markets where the value proposition for these services is critical. Spacenet’s channel program helps extend the reach of satellite broadband services into these markets.

For large customers with hundreds or even thousands of locations, Spacenet provides customized broadband and satellite services directly, but for smaller customers that benefit from an off-the-shelf system, the company created the Spacenet Channel Partner Program, an alternative distribution network. Participants in the program typically sell Connexstar commercial-grade WAN solutions, which are ideal for retail, hospitality, energy, healthcare, financial services, government, and emergency response customers.

“We recruit partners, teach them about our products, and establish long-term personal relationships with them. Some of our agents are small, family-owned businesses; others are large corporations with billions of dollars in revenue,” said Georghiou, noting that extending the reach of satellite communications to any organization that depends on ultra-reliable networking is the company’s main goal.

“Our focus is on clearing up old misconceptions about satellite technology and educating the market on its unique advantages,” he said.