North Stars For Alaska s Microcom, it takes everything from planes to snowmobiles to install Exede. pg4

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1 The newsletter for Exede Internet retailers january february 2016 North Stars For Alaska s Microcom, it takes everything from planes to snowmobiles to install Exede. pg4 New Year, New Products pg2 25 Mbps speeds, a WiFi Modem and Exede EasyCare lead the way in The sky s the limit pg3 ViaSat s in-flight Wi-Fi service reaches new heights. Getting down to business pg7 New business plans give flexibility to customers, profits to dealers. ExedeExaminer_Issue6.indd 1

2 Product News Introducing Exede EasyCare Set to launch in February 2016, EasyCare can save customers a lot in Exede EasyCare is a new add-on the event a service call is ever needed. that offers an extra layer of support for» Dish relocation service. The Exede and WildBlue customers as well EasyCare monthly fee includes up as new revenue opportunities for dealers. to one dish relocation per year at the Dealers will receive a 1/month residual commission for each customer who Dealers will be reimbursed by ViaSat same service address for any reason. maintains a subscription to EasyCare. for this service. Since EasyCare costs only 5.99/mo.» Priority access to customer in addition to any Exede or WildBlue service. We ve set up a dedicated Internet service plan fees, we expect EasyCare customer phone number attachment rates will be quite good. for any questions or issues. Here s what customers get:» No minimum service term for» Service calls: When an on-site EasyCare. This means customers service call is required, a call will be can terminate their EasyCare plan made at no additional charge to the at any time. However, if a customer customer. Since service calls are typically 95 each, the low monthly cost of (90) days after subscribing, terminates EasyCare within ninety ViaSat may charge the customer for service call charges that would have been applicable if the customer had not subscribed to EasyCare. Additionally, a customer who terminates an EasyCare subscription may not be eligible to re-subscribe for 180 days following termination.» New internet customers pay nothing for EasyCare for the first 90 days. New internet customers who add EasyCare during their Exede Internet service order will have the 5.99/mo. fee credited for the first 90 days of service.» Existing customers who purchase EasyCare during their first 90 days of service. The monthly EasyCare fee for existing customers who purchase EasyCare during their first 90 days of service will be waived for the remainder of this 90-day period. Stay tuned for upcoming dealer communications with more details about this exciting new service. powered by GET MORE LEADS SATLEADS SatLeads, powered by Trost Marketing, is your Exede marketing and printing resource. We provide Exede dealers with a large assortment of products to help them drive more sales. -Direct Mail -Every Door Direct Mail -Radius Mailings -Demographic Targeting -Yard Signs -Event Tents -Custom Banners -Apparel PRODUCTS INCLUDE: wit h PROUD SPONSOR OF Tahit i THE 2016 INCENTIVE TRIP -Customized Brochures -Pocket Flyers -Door Hangers -Vehicle Magnets -Feather Flags -Business Cards -Event Items -And More... GET MORE OUT OF YOUR MARKETING BUDGET CALL A SATLEADS REPRESENTATIVE TODAY! New Year brings improved speeds, WiFi Modem, new plans The New Year brings exciting changes to Exede, including the new Exede WiFi Modem and plans starting at in some areas. Dealers: Review your advertising and marketing material and upgrade them to reflect those changes. You ll likely want to update materials that say all our plans provide the same fast speeds and start at since these statements may no longer apply in your service areas. The new modem lets customers in select areas experience download speeds up to 25 Mbps, three times faster than typical DSL, and a doubling of our previous top-end download speed of 12 Mbps. That changes our speed claims in some areas, so let your customers know! Exede s WiFi Modem service plans start as low as 10 more per month on Exede 12 Mbps plans, and are available to customers in all Freedom plan areas and some Liberty plan areas. Check the beam maps or zip lookup to confirm availability. A good way to explain how fast these speeds are: The FCC considers 25 Mbps the definition of true broadband, so our new satellite internet speeds are comparable to traditional broadband options. No other satellite internet provider in the U.S. today offer speeds this fast for home use. Check your ads and marketing materials to make sure they convey all this good news. 2 ExedeExaminer_Issue6.indd 2

3 Flying high ViaSat s in-flight Wi-Fi service spreading its wings JetBlue has been an early adapter of ViaSat s in-flight Wi-Fi technology. In-flight Wi-Fi for commercial airlines is a hot topic in travel and aviation media, and ViaSat is gaining its share of coverage. Gogo has the big market share lead, but ViaSat CEO and Chairman Mark Dankberg believes it can be overcome. Just like the residential market, ViaSat s view is the winner will be whomever builds a better network at the right price to give users the best experience. Though consumer broadband will remain ViaSat s primary growth driver, in-flight and other mobile applications are becoming key parts of the business. They help build the business case for funding future satellite developments like ViaSat-2, scheduled to launch in late The primary benefit of ViaSat in-flight internet to airlines is that the connection quality engages up to 40 percent of passengers per flight, much more than the single digit rates for a service like Gogo. More engaged passengers attract advertisers, opening new airline partnership and revenue opportunities. Enabling passengers to use their own devices and applications also reduces inflight entertainment expenses. Those are key differentiators in the competitive, cost-conscious airline industry. In the recent ViaSat second quarter earnings conference call, Dankberg discussed recent in-flight Wi-Fi developments. Among the highlights:» Service installations on JetBlue, United, and Virgin aircraft total over 400 planes.» JetBlue will have free Wi-Fi on all flights by mid All JetBlue Airbus aircraft have ViaSat service and installs are underway on Embraer E190 regional jets. Because of the excellent service, JetBlue has attracted partnerships and sponsorships for its free Wi-Fi service from Amazon Prime and MLB Network.» A new partnership with Netflix and Virgin America a Gogo customer until now put an industry-wide spotlight on the ViaSat system s ability to stream video, which is becoming passengers measure of in-flight service quality. ViaSat s in-flight service has proven the only one that can support streaming for all passengers.» The promotion around the Netflix service launch featured its original House of Cards series including a custom-painted plane exposure that increased awareness and credibility for ViaSat s service.» Many executives from other airlines are flying JetBlue to try the service first hand. Dankberg pointed out that no matter how much bandwidth the network has, performance will be bad if it s oversold. The ViaSat strategy is to preserve the integrity of services both consumer and in-flight to maintain performance and build credibility. From that foundation, new satellites will add better services and create greater separation from competitors. Don Buchman, VP of ViaSat Mobility, expanded on bandwidth management in a recent interview for Runway Girl Network. We don t sell past congestion for our residential and business services, he said. We haven t sold such that the aircraft has no capacity when they go into the beam: we have all the capacity that we intended to have for the aircraft. Virgin America used a custompainted House of Cards plane to promote its in-flight streaming service, powered by Exede. 3 ExedeExaminer_Issue6.indd 3

4 Upward dealer focus Y Alaska s Microcom sees the future in satellites ou ve heard it for years: Exede Internet is available almost anywhere. But what happens when anywhere is a remote settlement in a Hawaiian jungle, or a roadless village overlooking the icy Gulf of Alaska? We ve taken every kind of transport there is to get to an install, says Chuck Schumann, vice president of Anchoragebased Microcom. Snow machines, ferries, helicopters, dogsleds. We ve skied in. Ridden in the back of the customer s truck. You name it. Schumann is sipping an IPA and watching a college basketball game from his box at the gleaming new Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. While his manner is relaxed, business is clearly never far from his mind. That s what happens when you run a communications company spanning three states and nearly a dozen offices. I definitely see satellite as the future in these areas, he says of Microcom s efforts to bring better internet and TV to Alaska and Hawaii. Where it is now compared to even 10 years ago is kind of unbelievable. Satellite advocates Schumann and his wife, Microcom president Sandra Blinstrubas, have long believed in satellite technology. When Microcom began in the mid- 80s, Alaskans still had to wait weeks to get taped TV programming shipped to them from the Lower 48. Any kind of computer connection was pure fantasy. For more than a decade, the company battled naysayers from Fairbanks to Washington, D.C., to prove that broadcast TV and Ku-band satellites could work up north. I was a used antenna salesman, Schumann jokes, pointing out various dishes and gateways he s installed around downtown Anchorage. In the early days, I had to get creative with financing so the local TV stations could afford the equipment. That included buying previously owned stuff from the Lower 47. A scrapbook Schumann keeps in his Anchorage office features photos of communications projects in some impressive locales: Moscow s Red Square, volcanic landscapes in Hawaii, Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez disaster. Today, Microcom focuses on residential services like Exede. Schumann is quick to credit his wife with developing s official Exede mann with hi hu Sc ck hu C s Microcom e, AK. e in Anchorag Internet vehicl Schumann s wife and Mi crocom president Sandra Blinstrubas pla yed a key role in developing the successf ul business. 4 ExedeExaminer_Issue6.indd 4

5 Bound that aspect of the business. Sandra always said I spent 10 percent of my time making the money and 90 percent of my time spending it, Schumann says of Microcom s past largescale projects. She was the one going into these outlying communities, listening to what people needed. Urban areas, too While Exede has been most popular in areas of Alaska and Hawaii where ground-based DSL is slow or nonexistent, Schumann also has customers in urban centers. You definitely get people who are just plain mad at the big guys, he says. They want something better as soon as possible, even if there s a little compromise (on speed). Driving along the Turnagain Arm waterway south of Anchorage, engineering manager Tom Brady and Schumann reminisce about local projects they ve tackled, from regulatory fights to New Year s Eve ski trips. Dark fog hangs over the water, and the highway is alarmingly icy. The temperature is an unseasonably warm 17 degrees. We ll send you up to Fairbanks, then you ll see some snow, laughs Brady. I ll put it this way: We ve had to dig down to do maintenance on an antenna. Those tricky conditions create a patchwork of service areas, so Microcom works with a variety of competing TV and internet providers to serve rural customers. Schumann says the key to his business is to keep the hats separate and resist pressure to sell customers products that may not be a great fit. What s best for the customer We do the best we can for each given customer, regardless, he says. That s why working with ViaSat has been so refreshing. With some other companies, we didn t feel as supported. But when we showed that we can be successful with Exede while doing other things, it worked out for everybody. Soon Schumann will fly to Microcom s various offices to celebrate the holidays with his employees. Then he ll settle in to help his installers weather the long Alaska winter. Come spring, planning will begin for the Slam n Salm n fishing derby, a benefit Schumann helped create to support a local soup kitchen. He ll also face off against his commercial sales manager in the Oosik Classic ski race. The other guy is younger, but the office considers Schumann a heavy favorite. Sandra is actually training the other guy; my own wife, Schumann chuckles. I hear he s putting some real work in. If he wants to keep up with Schumann, he d better be. A Microcom installer makes the final adjustments to an Exede antenna at a home in south Anchorage. A group of Microcom employees poses with an Exedebranded install vehicle at the company s Anchorage warehouse. In all, Microcom encompasses 11 buildings in Alaska, Hawaii and Idaho. 5 ExedeExaminer_Issue6.indd 5

6 Tahiti s iconic over-water bungalows are among the many unique sights that will make ViaSat s top dealers feel worlds away from their everyday lives this June Sail away to the tropical paradise that inspired painters and writers In the 1890s, French painter Paul Gauguin shared the beauty of Tahiti with the world through paintings of the island. Today, the luxury cruise ship line named in his honor continues to share that beauty with its passengers. This year, one of the Paul Gauguin s fleet of luxury small ships will host 40 of Exede s top dealers, who soon will be selected to participate in ViaSat s most exotic Exede Dealer Incentive Trip. Gauguin came to Tahiti in 1891, intent on making a fresh start free from European society. He set up a studio in a bamboo hut near the capital city A visitor parasails near Moorea, one of the stops the Paul Gauguin luxury cruise ship will make during the June dealer trip of Papeete from where the ship will sail in June Critics say many of Gauguin s finest paintings date from his years on the island, in works that depict Tahitian life. Tahiti is the largest, most populated island in French Polynesia, an area collectively referred to as the Islands of Tahiti. And Gauguin wasn t the only artist inspired by its lush rainforests, tropical climate, volcanic topography and black sand beaches. Authors James Michener, Robert Louis Stevenson, Herman Melville and Jack London all visited and wrote about Tahiti. Exede dealers and their guests will discover their own island inspiration onboard the award-winning Paul Gauguin luxury cruise ship. The weeklong cruise is planned for June Designed specifically to sail the area s waters, the Paul Gauguin can navigate hidden ports and shallow seas off limits to larger ships. With a capacity of just 332 guests and a staff-to-guest ratio of 1:15, Exede s dealers can expect a week of pampered luxury as they enjoy stunning natural beauty. Yep, drinks in coconuts! During the week-long cruise, the ship will stop in Huahine, Le Taha a, Moorea and Bora Bora. Beach Olympics, drinks served in coconuts and floating lagoon bars are all included on the ship s weekly itinerary. Paul Gauguin s Three Tahitians, painted in 1899, is among the many works created while the artist lived in Tahiti. ViaSat has reserved an Exede-only private event at Bora Bora s world-famous Bloody Mary s. It s the place where the stars go, and we bought it out, said Karin Thompson, ViaSat s global travel manager. In addition to all the fun, ViaSat s giving its dealers a chance to give back to the islanders who are playing host to them. The first Corporate Responsibility Day is planned on Huahine. Exede volunteers will work together to build a playground for the island s school children, who currently have no such facility. Though the island is a tourism destination, many of its 6,000 residents live traditional lifestyles, relying on fishing and crops for their economic well-being. Volunteers will be able to sign up on an Exede Tahiti website before the trip. The trip for two will be awarded to 40 Exede dealers, including the top 14 performers from each distributor and four other selections from each distributor. The qualifying period began May 1, 2015, and runs through April 30, For more information, including contest rules and rankings, visit Exede s Tahitian Dreams site at exede-getaway.com 6 ExedeExaminer_Issue6.indd 6

7 New Exede Business plans offer flexibility, redundancy and higher commissions Plans set to launch in 2016 With the support of our Exede dealers, ViaSat continues to enjoy tremendous success serving residential customers with our residential plans. Starting this year, there s also a great opportunity for dealers to provide high-speed internet to businesses, while earning additional profits. Many businesses have the same issue obtaining high-speed internet as our Exede residential customers: High-speed service is either unavailable at their location or the options are inadequate, slow and expensive. Even businesses that have terrestrial internet service often need a high-speed, affordable, back-up service in case their primary provider has an outage. Exede s new business plans include choices to meet both primary and backup needs. They re designed for businesses with a single location as well as multi-location regional or national chains or franchisees. These new choices are a significant improvement over our original single Exede Business plan, with much greater data plans now available. The new Exede Business plans are designed to specifically address the needs of a wide variety of business customers, said Dan Turak, ViaSat s Vice President of Business Services. Unlike the Exede residential plans, the Exede Business plans provide substantially more data and are metered, so there are no hard data caps and business customers are never slowed down. Additional usage beyond each plan s designated data threshold is provided automatically at 10 per GB, and is billed on the next month s statement. Plus, each plan includes up to three persistent IP addresses a feature almost every business requires. With Exede for primary connectivity, underserved business locations finally have the high speed solution they ve been seeking, and multi-location business customers will have a one-stop solution provider for those difficult-to-serve locations. The potential for using Exede as a backup service is also huge. Businesses understand that reliable back-up services are no longer a luxury but a necessity. Many businesses are required to have it. Exede Redundancy The solution is Exede Redundancy. Prices start at a month for the plan, which will be available nationwide in both Exede 12 and Exede 5 beams. Whether it s a backhoe severing a fiber line or a storm that takes out terrestrial internet, the Exede Redundancy plan enables businesses to cleanly bridge the gap during a temporary service disruption with their primary provider. With Exede as a redundancy plan, a business is buying peace of mind at a really affordable price; they re getting a high speed, reliable connection that enables a business to continue to function when their primary service goes down, Turak said. Our other business plans range from 99.99/month for 20 GB to a month for 200 GB. Some of these plans also are well suited for back-up service. These plans are only available in Exede 12 beams. Exede dealers can broaden their business and increase their commissions by selling Exede Business to the businesses in their community. For more details, ask your Exede ASM or your DSI or Perfect-10 Territory Manager. SPEEDS DATA PLAN 20 GB 50 GB FAST INTERNET OPTIONS FOR YOUR BUSINESS AT PRICES YOU CAN AFFORD* 15 Mbps DOWNSTREAM UP TO 100 GB 200 GB ADDITIONAL USAGE PRICE* /GB UP TO 4 Mbps UPSTREAM NO HARD DATA CAPS! NO SERVICE SLOW-DOWNS! PERSISTENT IP ADDRESSES EQUIPMENT LEASE FEE INCLUDED INCLUDED Exede s new business plans offer varying quantities of data, all with persistent IP addresses. Exede s Redundancy plan is an ideal back-up service for all businesses. SPEEDS IN MOST AREAS 1 GB RELIABLE, AFFORDABLE BACKUP EVERY BUSINESS NEEDS* 15 Mbps DOWNSTREAM 4 Mbps UPSTREAM SPEEDS IN OTHER AREAS: UP TO 5 Mbps DOWNSTREAM + UP TO 1Mbps UPSTREAM ADDITIONAL DATA UP TO /GB UP TO No hard data caps! No service slow-downs! Low-price answer to costly outages 7 ExedeExaminer_Issue6.indd 7

8 New EasyCare service = profits for dealers, protection for customers Pg2 Exede growing its in-flight WiFi service Pg3 New business plans bring new dealer profits Pg7 In this issue Delivering Exede to The Last Frontier Pg4 For the latest map showing which ASMs cover different parts of the country as well as their contact information go to bit.ly/exede_asm Inside: The next edition of 349 Inverness Dr South Englewood, CO MAILING PERMIT INDICIA ExedeExaminer_Issue6.indd 8