Drew Brandy
Vice President, Industry Enterprise – inmarsat
speaks to Teletimes
Gulraiz Khalid: How was the GITEX 2012 experience for inmarsat?
Drew Brandy: It’s been good. We exhibit here every year. We’ve been here for certainly over the last 7 years because it’s an important show. It’s important for us to be present in the region because so many of our partners are based here, also because a lot of the purchase decisions and the product is sold from this region going out into other regions around the world, typically serving North African Market and the Middle East markets.
GK: Is it financially profitable to participate in such events for you?
DB: Well, for us it’s about supporting our partners in region.
GK: So it is about presence?
DB: It is absolutely about presence. Reinforcing and reestablishing our brand and also making sure that customers and partners who want to have interaction with us have visibility of us here.
GK: There are a lot of satellite companies at GITEX, how would you differentiate inmarsat from the other ones?
DB: Firstly, we are a global satellite operator. So what that means for organizations is whether you’re delivering your service in North America or South East Asia and you’re getting the same quality and the same service from us. We’ve been at the forefront of the satellite industry for over 30 years. And we are ‘the mobile satellite operator’. We’re used by customers across most sectors around the globe. Our services are used in most countries on the planet.
GK: Globally, what are the most profitable markets? Firstly which regions are you operating in?
DB: When I say global, I truly mean global with the exception of just some areas and when we launched our new service in 2005, it was used in almost every country around the world. We launched our I-Sat phone service two years ago, we sold more than a hundred thousand handsets and we’ve seen the service used in every licensed country on the planet. But then you asked about sectors.
We operate across land, air and sea so we’ve got a maritime business that is the mainstay of the inmarsat business. We provide aeronautical services for commercial airlines and for business jets and also for military and government use as well. And the land business is which I’m responsible for. We provide services to the majority of broadcasters around the world; the BBCs, the Aljazeeras, organizations like that but also oil and gas and other multinationals.
GK: That would make things different for you as compared to other companies in the ICT center because normally people are making more profits from the emerging markets.
DB: Yes. But it’s not just that, I mean though if I look at the majority where our services are used extensively is in parts of the Middle East and North Africa and those are regions to a large extent where there’s a lot of investment coming from outside of those regions to help develop some of those markets for various education initiatives, for healthcare obligations and for social aspects.
GK: When you talk about satellite, how do you see the future of just the Middle East market? And how do you see inmarsat as a player in the market in the Middle East?
DB: There always is competition in every market. I think completion makes you better or makes you sharper in terms of the services and solutions you bring to market because it focuses you on how to better address your customer’s requirements. So the competition, I think is healthy in the market. The Middle East market has been an important market for us and hence we have presence in this region, we have an office here which continues to grow, our channel in this region continues to grow and it’s just support, not just the UAE but the region surrounding it where the services are used extensively.
GK: Are you planning on introducing any new services?
DB: We’ve introduced a few new services this year but in 2013 we’ll increase our streaming capability on our BIGAM portfolio. But later in 2013 we’ll also launch our global express program which is a brand new service, launched on three new satellites call the I-5’s, deploying cave end technology and offers much greater throughout to Ng’s.
GK: How are you planning to increase capacity?
DB: We will increase our capacity through I-4 satellite in 2013 and that’s a joint initiative for the European Space Agency called Alphasat.
GK: How are you adding value to or making better the communication experience for the customers?
DB: We are continuing to evolve our portfolio in line with customer’s expectations.
We’re increasing the throughput available to them on our existing services and we’re moving beyond the mobile satellite into the broader satellite space to deliver unparalleled throughout in the fixed space with our new offerings in 2013.
GK: Is there anything else you would like to add on?
DB: I think for me, the key piece in all this is that we’re not rusting on our laurels. We as an organization continue to innovate and our portfolio continues to grow. We have the broadest portfolio in the satellite industry.
