2004 Press Releases

12/06/04 : WildBlue Status Update :

Over the past several weeks, there has been escalating interest in the upcoming launch of WildBlue's satellite Internet service, the successful launch of the Anik F2 satellite and the initial testing that we're undergoing. We wanted to share our progress with you.

Since gaining access to the satellite in October, we've done quite a bit of initial testing, and things are progressing as planned. I have the service at my home today, and my family loves it. The first round of formal technical testing began shortly after gaining access to the satellite and will continue through January 2005. Once that stage is complete to our satisfaction, we'll begin the final round of testing with WildBlue's "beta" customers. During the second quarter of 2005, WildBlue expects to offer consumer service with a regional rollout plan across the continental United States as we successively "light up" WildBlue's five gateways, each representing approximately 20% of the United States.

We expect WildBlue to be available nationwide by the middle of 2005 but much of the country should have service before then. Once we're nationwide, virtually every home and small office in the continental United States will then be able to receive affordable high-speed Internet access. At $49.95 per month for broadband Internet service, we intend to be competitively priced while offering our customers a much more advanced product than is currently available. With most of our technical challenges behind us, our focus now turns to our greatest opportunity--executing on the rollout of our new, competitive national offering and providing fast, efficient Internet service that will be installed and maintained across the United States in a high-quality fashion.

WildBlue is working closely with the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), one of WildBlue's key partners, on selling and supporting WildBlue customers through NRTC members. We also expect to announce shortly two national distributors to manage WildBlue's dealer and installation infrastructure.

We created WildBlue to provide a compelling option for the 20-25 million customers and businesses in underserved or unserved communities across the country - specifically those who do not have access to cable modem, DSL or other terrestrial-based high-speed internet services. Our objective is not only to bring advanced Internet services to these customers as rapidly as possible but also to ensure that we make a great first impression and form lasting relationships with them. As with the initial design of our entire system, our ramp up to consumer operations continues to be well thought out and methodical as we strive to execute seamlessly.

We look forward to sharing our progress with you in the months to come. 2005 will be a big year for WildBlue! We appreciate your continued interest in our service.

Sincerely,

Tom Moore
CEO

10/01/04 : Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy heralds WildBlue’s Success :

Fr: Office of Senator Patrick Leahy

Dt: July 20, 2004

Re: Leahy: Successful Satellite Launch Is Good Omen For Rural Broadband Access In Vermont

The announcement Monday by Denver-based Wild Blue Communications about their successful satellite launch may make the availability of high-speed internet closer to thousands of rural homes throughout Vermont, according to Sen. Patrick Leahy. Leahy is co-author of the satellite home viewer laws that have made local-into-local satellite service possible in Vermont. Since 1999 he has been working with rural cooperatives to make it easier for companies to offer both high-speed internet access and satellite television through a single satellite dish.

Wild Blue Communications said that high speed internet service will be available to millions of rural homes in second quarter of 2005. The technology will allow subscribers, including DISH Network and DirecTV subscribers, to connect to the internet 50 times faster than a 56k modem.

Leahy heralded Wild Blue Communications' success as another critical step toward bridging the digital divide that separates rural and urban Americans' access to high-speed, broadband internet access. Leahy also secured funds that helped establish the Vermont Broadband Council, whose first project was the recently announced Montpelier wi-fi project.

07/28/04 : WildBlue Lines Up Key Provisioning, Back Office and Integration Support :

Vendor Agreements Signed with Convergys, IEL and Incognito

DENVER, CO - WildBlue Communications, Inc., an emerging wireless broadband company, announced the key vendor network that it will be using for its back office, provisioning and service management functions. WildBlue has set these agreements in place to prepare the company’s overall infrastructure to support its billing, customer management and service needs once its broadband data service is available.

Convergys Corporation (NYSE: CVG), the global leader in integrated billing, employee care, and customer care services, has come on board with its Infinys software to support order entry, billing and customer management for the launch of WildBlue’s satellite-delivered high speed data service. The Infinys product is expected to provide the flexibility, scalability and performance necessary to quickly grow the WildBlue business footprint.

Interactive Enterprise, Ltd., a company that develops and markets broadband provisioning and service activation software to global broadband operators, will be providing the new wireless version of its Conexon platform. Conexon is expected to contribute to WildBlue’s back office provisioning and service activation systems, offering control over platform management, business process definition and service creation, as well as the ability to develop interfaces for new services.

Incognito Software Inc. will be providing the recently announced Broadband Command Center (BCC) product to support WildBlue’s offerings. The BCC product is expected to provide a fully integrated device-provisioning suite for the WildBlue high-speed data service. Incognito Software, Inc. is a rapidly growing independent company uniquely focused on developing IP, DNS, and device provisioning solutions.

“We are very pleased to be working with a top-notch network of companies to build our back-office suite,” said Tom Moore, WildBlue’s CEO. “We’re building a new broadband environment, and each of these companies is well-versed in the technology and the needs of our specific business model. By utilizing their collective expertise and the products that each has already developed, we’re hoping to minimize deployment issues, manual processing needs and data management issues.”

07/19/04 : WildBlue Announces the Successful Launch of its First Satellite Payload at 8:44 PM EST, July 17th, 2004 :

Launch is First Step for WildBlue to Provide High Speed Internet Service via Satellite To Rural America and Smaller Cities

DENVER, COLORADO - WildBlue Communications, Inc. (www.wildblue.com), an emerging satellite broadband company, announced that its first satellite payload, aboard Telesat’s Anik F2 satellite, was successfully launched Saturday night from Kourou, French Guiana. The launch of its first satellite payload will permit WildBlue to offer wireless high-speed Internet access services to virtually anywhere in the continental U.S. WildBlue’s offering is expected to be particularly attractive to the estimated 25 million homes and small businesses that don’t have access to other broadband Internet options.

“WildBlue is building a new platform to make affordable, two-way wireless high-speed, Internet access available to small cities and throughout rural America,” said Tom Moore, WildBlue’s CEO. “We are very pleased to have met this important milestone. With our first satellite payload successfully launched, we will now begin a thorough testing phase as we ramp up to consumer availability in second quarter of 2005.”

Telesat’s Anik F2 satellite was successfully launched into orbit this weekend aboard an Ariane 5G+ launch vehicle (Flight 163). Anik F2 will be put into operational service at the 111.1° West longitude orbital location.

The Anik F2 satellite, manufactured by Boeing Satellite Systems and owned and operated by Telesat Canada (Telesat), features C, Ka and Ku-band transponders, and is one of the most powerful commercial telecommunications satellites ever built. WildBlue’s satellite payload is a key component in its low-cost wireless broadband infrastructure. The new Ka-band "spot beam" technology will allow multiple re-use of the same frequency, providing higher capacity at lower costs than traditional Ku-band satellites. WildBlue is also using a new approach to satellite communications based on the proven DOCSIS® (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) networking standard, the leading consumer broadband technology in North America. The use of DOCSIS® along with digital broadcast satellite standards will result in low, competitive customer equipment costs.

“WildBlue’s key value is in offering broadband Internet service to markets that wouldn’t otherwise have this advanced access available,” continued Moore. “We are very proud to be working with some of the industry’s top equipment manufacturers and technology providers to make this new service a reality, and we’re happy to be, literally and figuratively, off the ground.”

Backed by the National Rural Telecommunications Cooperative (NRTC), global satellite leader Intelsat and Liberty Media (NYSE: L, LMC.B), WildBlue will be marketing its new broadband solution to families, telecommuters and small offices virtually everywhere in the continental U.S.

WildBlue’s second payload will be carried on its own satellite, WildBlue-1, under construction at Space Systems/Loral. WildBlue-1 will be scheduled for launch based on market demand for WildBlue’s services

06/22/04 : Wildblue Selects Kospace to Produce Consumer Broadband Satellite Equipment :

KoSPACE Transceivers Will Wirelessly Transmit and Receive Data for WildBlue’s Upcoming High Speed Internet Service Via Satellite

DENVER, CO, June 22, 2004 - WildBlue Communications, Inc. (www.wildblue.com), an emerging satellite broadband company, and KoSPACE (www.kospace.com), a leading radio transceiver and component company in the RF & Microwave markets, jointly announced today an agreement for KoSPACE to produce Ka-Band transceivers for WildBlue’s consumer and small office/home office broadband Internet service. The transceiver contains the sophisticated electronics in WildBlue's small 26-inch satellite dish antenna, which will wirelessly transmit and receive data from WildBlue's satellite to each consumer’s home or office.

The primary target of the WildBlue service will be an estimated 30 million homes and small offices that don’t have access to other broadband Internet options. To reach these customers, WildBlue is using a new approach to satellite communications. The CPE technology is based on the proven DOCSIS® (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) networking standard, the leading consumer broadband technology in North America. WildBlue also is expected to be the premier satellite broadband service based on next-generation Ka-band spot beam technology, designed to lower the cost of providing high-speed Internet access via satellite.

"The signing of this contract is a key step in obtaining low-cost customer premises equipment essential to the successful launch of our affordable broadband service." said Jim Elliot, WildBlue’s Vice President in charge of Infrastructure.

Thomas Moore, WildBlue’s CEO added: “KoSPACE is a leader in RF and microwave technology. This contract supports WildBlue’s strategy of securing multiple suppliers for each of our key components. We are proud to have KoSPACE join our world-class group of technology partners.”

“WildBlue is a breakthrough service that will bring high-speed Internet services to markets that wouldn’t otherwise have this advanced access available,” said KB Chough, President and CEO with KoSPACE. “We are very proud to be amongst the vendors and technology providers that will help make this new service a reality. KoSPACE’s cost-effective design and production will enable WildBlue to keep its transceiver costs reasonable, passing those savings onto its consumers.”

WildBlue’s satellite equipment is designed to serve the same purpose as DSL or cable modems. It will convert analog data transmissions into Internet Protocol (IP) data packets that can be read by the customer’s PC or any digital Internet appliance. The agreement with KoSPACE allows WildBlue to continue in its efforts to leverage standard components from the cable modem and satellite TV industries in order to lower the cost of satellite equipment while providing excellent performance over the Ka-band satellite link. Agreements such as this will enable WildBlue to offer attractively-priced two-way wireless satellite broadband service through multiple vendor equipment sourcing.

06/10/04 : WildBlue Communications Selects Morey Evans Advertising To Roll Out High-Speed Internet Access In Small Cities and Rural US Markets :

DENVER, CO, June 10, 2004 - WildBlue Communications selected Morey Evans Advertising as agency of record to handle brand development, advertising and market launch programs for its wireless, high-speed Internet access service.

"Morey Evans has extensive experience in marketing broadband and telecom services to the consumer market, as well as the small and home office market,” said Brad Greenwald, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for WildBlue. “They understand the discipline and analysis that marketing subscriber-based services requires.”

According to Glenn Morey, agency President, it was clear to the agency team that WildBlue represents a significant opportunity in its strategy of serving markets that are under-served by current broadband suppliers. “WildBlue will bring an entirely new and better Internet experience to consumers and business people who, until now, never even had the option for high-speed access, said Morey. “The speed, the always-on access, and the affordability of Wildblue will have a real impact on rural communities and households, and we plan to build the WildBlue brand around that sense of opportunity and aspiration.”

03/02/04 : WildBlue Announces Appointment of New Vice Presidents :

Two Key Appointments Round Out the Executive Management Team

DENVER, CO, March 2, 2004 - WildBlue Communications, Inc. (www.wildblue.com), an emerging wireless broadband company, announced today the appointment of Anoosh Shahidi to Vice President, Business Operations and Raymond Mills to Vice President, Technical Operations. Mr. Shahidi will be responsible for WildBlue's business operations including provisioning, billing, call-center management, Internet Service Provider (ISP) services, distribution networks, and field operations, while Mr. Mills will be responsible for the management of all technical operations for WildBlue's services. The addition of Shahidi and Mills will be an integral part of the company's plans to deliver a two-way wireless broadband service via satellite direct to homes and small offices throughout the contiguous United States beginning second quarter of 2005.

Prior to his appointment at WildBlue, Shahidi spent 10 years leading the development of operational support systems at Comcast and its predecessor companies. In his most recent role, Shahidi led the development of a cross-service back office system to enable IP-based converged services. Shahidi also led the Road Runner team that developed and rolled out the first auto-provisioning solution in the cable industry and he has been part of NASA's Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) experiment that launched the first Ka-band satellite.

Before joining WildBlue, Mills was with AT&T Broadband and Comcast Cable's High Speed Internet services unit, where he was responsible for the regional data centers housing the provisioning systems and High Speed Data Network Operations Center (NOC) operations supporting 2.7 million customers. Prior to that, Mills was with PRIMESTAR, where he helped grow the operation from its inception to 2.3 million customers. During Mills' career he also ran the Management Information Systems (MIS) operations for Online Computer Library Center and worked with Warner Qube, the first two-way interactive television cable system and test market.

Shahidi and Mills will be working to prepare WildBlue for its commercial service launch, expected to be the first using the Ka-band spot beam satellite technology for a commercial service. Designed to lower the cost of providing consumers high-speed internet access via satellite, the WildBlue system will utilize cable modem technology, resulting in lower customer equipment and installation costs-a critical requirement in satellite-based consumer services.

WildBlue has also augmented its management team with several key Director hires. Brad Behmer has joined the team as Director of Sales and Stephanie Lovett has filled the Director of Marketing position. In addition, Sheila Giusti has been named Director of Accounting and Aakash Sahai has signed on as Director of Access Network Engineering. Also joining WildBlue as IP Architect is Shin Ye, Lisa Scalpone as Associate General Counsel and Carla Mayer as Director of Human Resources.

01/05/04 : WildBlue Selects ViaSat to Supply Consumer Broadband Satellite Equipment :

Satellite Modems, Transceivers and Gateway Equipment Will Enable WildBlue's Satellite Broadband Service

DENVER, CO AND CARLSBAD, CA, January 5, 2004 - WildBlue Communications, Inc. (www.wildblue.com) and ViaSat Inc. (Nasdaq:VSAT) announced today an agreement for ViaSat to supply satellite broadband equipment and ground systems for the WildBlue consumer and small office/home office broadband service. The contract is valued at over $33 million and includes final development and production of consumer premises equipment (CPE) and gateway equipment to support WildBlue's initial service launch. Customer equipment includes a ViaSat Ka-band satellite modem and outdoor Ka-band transceiver electronics from ViaSat subsidiary US Monolithics LLC. CPE deliveries are scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2004.

With a planned launch second quarter of 2005, the primary target of the WildBlue service will be an estimated 30 million homes and small offices that don't have access to other broadband options. To reach these customers, WildBlue is using a new approach to satellite communications. The CPE technology is based on the proven DOCSIS® (Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification) networking standard, the leading consumer broadband technology in North America. Coupled with advanced satellite waveforms, ViaSat's implementation of DOCSIS for a satellite-based system lowers the cost of consumer terminals, reduces satellite bandwidth requirements, enables plug-and-play installation, and provides for mature customer service, billing and network control software and systems. WildBlue is also expected to be the first satellite broadband service based on next-generation Ka-band spot beam technology, designed to lower the cost of providing high-speed Internet access via satellite.

"WildBlue's mission is to provide affordable broadband Internet access virtually anywhere, with a focus on small cities and rural America," said WildBlue CEO Thomas Moore. "We have a strong dedication to developing a low cost infrastructure, from the cost-effective design of our satellite modems to the high capacity and low cost of our next generation Ka-band spot beam satellite. We are especially pleased to be working with ViaSat, a recognized industry leader in IP networking over satellite technologies, to make the most efficient use of our satellite capacity."

Mark Dankberg, ViaSat chairman and CEO commented, "We're very pleased to resume our contract with WildBlue. We believe this program represents the state-of-the-art in low-cost satellite broadband technology both in terms of our ground segment and WildBlue's Ka-band spot beam satellite. We're certainly looking forward to WildBlue's service launch this year."

WildBlue's satellite modem is designed to serve the same purpose as DSL or cable modems. It will convert analog data transmissions into Internet Protocol (IP) data packets, that can be read by the customer's PC or any digital Internet appliance. The agreement with ViaSat allows WildBlue to leverage standard components from the cable modem and satellite TV industries to lower the cost of satellite modems while providing excellent performance over the Ka-band satellite link. This performance will enable WildBlue to offer attractively-priced two-way wireless satellite broadband service.