Latest News

January 2010

iDirect Continues To Lead Satellite Industry In Hub Sales, Ranks As Second Largest Enterprise VSAT Systems Vendor In The World, According To New COMSYS Report

Herndon, Va., January 26, 2010 — ST Electronics’ related US satellite communication company, VT iDirect, Inc. (iDirect), today announced that it continues to dominate the market for satellite IP hubs, accounting for nearly half of all hubs shipped in 2008, according to a new report by COMSYS, the satellite industry’s leading analyst firm. The 2009 edition of the COMSYS VSAT Report also revealed that iDirect has increased its share of hardware sales and remains the world’s second largest VSAT systems manufacturer by TDMA hardware revenue. Further, iDirect has raised its share of terminals shipped to 11 percent globally. iDirect is a world leader in satellite-based IP communications technology.

The 2009 edition details iDirect’s growing success and key accomplishments over the past two years. COMSYS notes that since its last study, iDirect has strengthened its presence across the world and continues to lead the industry in technology innovation. The report spotlights the launch of iDirect’s next-generation DVB-S2/ACM platform, Evolution, noting that Evolution was an important release for iDirect as it brought significant bandwidth efficiency gains to service providers battling rising space segment costs and capacity constraints. COMSYS reports: “By mid-2009, over 10,000 Evolution remotes had been shipped, running in over 80 different networks with customers reporting the system to be extremely stable and performing as iDirect had promised it would.”

The COMSYS report also reveals that iDirect’s “cost-effective and innovative hub solutions coupled with high levels of functionality and ease of use has made it almost a de facto standard within many of the most valuable vertical markets.” This includes the maritime industry where the iDirect platform currently supports eight of the market’s top 10 network operators and service providers. iDirect’s market share has grown among U.S. and foreign military organizations, which are rapidly deploying iDirect technology to improve their core operations. iDirect has advanced its presence in the mobile backhaul, aeronautical connectivity, energy and utilities, and other markets through new partnerships and technology innovations.

iDirect's focus has always been on the development of its platform's abilities to support sophisticated customer applications whilst allowing networks to be operated as efficiently and reliably as possible. It constantly expands the boundaries of the technology, empowering its service provider customers to maximize their margins and grow their businesses into established and potential new areas of the market. The company's future development roadmap builds on an established and well-proven history of enabling exactly that.

Simon BULL
Senior Analyst, COMSYS

With each consecutive report, iDirect has increased its market share and strengthened its positions in key industry growth segments. It’s very gratifying to see our hard work, innovation and customer support drive iDirect to become the second largest market share leader in hardware revenue. As satellite communications becomes an increasingly pivotal and broadly used technology, supporting more demanding applications, iDirect is focused on even greater innovations to make our platform as efficient and flexible as possible. We are more committed than ever to helping our partners run their business profitably while supporting an increasingly diverse and demanding set of customers.

David BETTINGER
Chief Technology Officer and Senior Vice President of Engineering, iDirect

COMSYS is the leading analyst in the satellite industry specializing in the VSAT market. Please visit www.comsys.co.uk.

iDirect is transforming the way the world gets and stays connected. The company’s satellite-based IP communications technology enables constant connectivity for voice, video and data applications in diverse and challenging environments. These include extending private networks to remote offices; supporting mobile connectivity across land, sea and air; providing rural telephony and Internet broadband; and maintaining communications in the wake of disasters and network failures. The iDirect Intelligent Platform™ integrates advanced technology into iDirect’s portfolio of hubs, routers and network management software to address the growing complexity of deploying and managing global IP networks. With more than 13 years of global satellite communications experience, iDirect serves customers in 50 countries through a diverse network of channel partners, including some of the largest satellite providers, operators and carriers in the world and seven of the World Teleport Association’s Global Top Ten. Headquartered in Herndon, Virginia, iDirect has offices in Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. Please visit www.idirect.net.

ST Electronics, the electronics arm of ST Engineering, delivers innovative system solutions to government, commercial, defence, and industrial customers worldwide. With presence in more than 20 countries and 30 cities, ST Electronics markets its solutions to more than 70 countries internationally. It specialises in the design, development and integration of advanced electronics and communications systems, such as broadband radio frequency and satellite communication, e-Government solutions, information communications technologies and IT, rail and traffic management, real-time command and control, modelling and simulation, interactive digital media, intelligent building management and information security. Please visit www.stee.stengg.com.

Media contact:

Magdalen Loh
AVP / Head, Corporate Communications
Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited
Tel: (65) 6413 1788 / 9822 3321
Fax: (65) 6484 8840
Email: magloh@stee.stengg.com

Julie Gouldin
Vice President, Corporate Marketing
iDirect
Phone: (1) 703-648-8155
Fax: (1) 703-648-8015
Email: jgouldin@idirect.net