From SatMagazine
The satellite industry is undergoing significant evolution. While there’s more opportunity than ever for growth, service providers and operators require virtualization for scale and accelerated technology transformation to remain competitive and enter new markets.
As a result, two industry-leading companies, ST Engineering iDirect and Newtec, have come together to combine their talents, uniquely positioning them to become one of the most influential and important companies in the satellite industry.
Historically, you have been competitors. How do you plan on bringing the companies together?
Kevin Steen
We’ve been competitive in the past, but our companies actually complement each other in several ways. We both have teams striving for innovation. We both have a strong focus on the customer. We share similar go-to-market strategies.
These strengths are nicely complemented by Newtec’s pioneering innovations in performance and efficiency. This acquisition brings two powerful market leaders together into a fully integrated, single, dynamic new force in the ground infrastructure market.
I know that jointly we can build the world’s most advanced satellite ground capabilities with customers’ success in mind.
Thomas Van den Driessche
As Kevin mentioned, ST Engineering iDirect and Newtec are similar in many ways. We have been working toward a similar vision, on complementary technologies, with common business goals. However, by bringing together our innovations and our platforms, we will be able to reach further than either company could on its own.
This merger will give us momentum to deliver the best possible solutions to the market, to lead in the innovation and transformation of the SATCOM industry. Overall, this merger is a gain for both companies and, more importantly, our customers.
How will this merger affect your technology strategy?
Kevin Steen
This is a great time of transformation for both companies, as well as our industry. Therefore, it’s the perfect opportunity for us to all sit down, look at all of our products and offerings, and identify how to leverage them to best serve our customers’ needs.
Generally, we’ll be combining the complementary strengths of each: our unparalleled networking and mobility features and Newtec’s exceptional performance and efficiency. This combination gives us the scale to accelerate our technology strategy and deliver products to market faster than was previously possible.
By building our different areas of expertise into a converged technology offering, we will be at the forefront of industry transformation, especially as it relates to 5G, to enable new applications with a focus on mobility, global defense, the Internet of Things (IoT), and smart nations.
Thomas Van den Driessche
We’re creating a new, unified organization that leverages the best of both companies and sheds the legacies of each.
We have already started moving toward greater platform virtualization. Over the next few years, we will shift our technology from hardware-based to software-based solutions. That will enable further integration and more rapid feature development. Continue>