Viasat Inc's Customers Performance

Our customer base is highly diversified. Customers in our satellite services segment include residential customers, commercial airlines, small businesses and other enterprise customers of our broadband services. The customers of our government systems and commercial networks segments include the DoD, U.S. National Security Agency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, allied foreign governments, select other U.S. federal, state and local government agencies, commercial and defense contractors, satellite network integrators, large communications service providers and enterprises requiring complex communications and networking solutions. We enter into government contracts either directly with U.S. or foreign governments, or indirectly through domestic or international partners or resellers. In our commercial networks segment, we also act as both a prime contractor and subcontractor for the sale of equipment and services.

U.S. Government Contracts

Substantial portions of our revenues are generated from contracts and subcontracts with the DoD and other federal government agencies. Many of our contracts are subject to a competitive bid process and are awarded on the basis of technical merit, personnel qualifications, experience and price. We also receive some contract awards involving special technical capabilities on a negotiated, noncompetitive basis due to our unique technical capabilities in special areas. The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 has encouraged the use of commercial type pricing, such as firm fixed-price contracts, on dual use products. Our future revenues and income could be materially affected by changes in government procurement policies and related oversight, a reduction in expenditures for the products and services we provide, and other risks generally associated with federal government contracts.

We provide products under federal government contracts that usually require performance over a period of several months to multiple years. Long-term contracts may be conditioned upon continued availability of congressional appropriations. Variances between anticipated budget and congressional appropriations may result in a delay, reduction or termination of these contracts.

Our federal government contracts are performed under cost-reimbursement contracts, time-and-materials contracts and fixed-price contracts. Cost-reimbursement contracts provide for reimbursement of costs and payment of a fee. The fee may be either fixed by the contract or variable, based upon cost control, quality, delivery and the customer’s subjective evaluation of the work. Under time-and-materials contracts, we receive a fixed amount by labor category for services performed and are reimbursed for the cost of materials purchased to perform the contract. Under a fixed-price contract, we agree to perform specific work for a fixed price and, accordingly, realize the benefit or detriment to the extent that the actual cost of performing the work differs from the contract price. In fiscal year 2018, approximately 14% of our total government revenues was generated from cost-reimbursement contracts with the federal government or our prime contractors, approximately 1% from time-and-materials contracts and approximately 85% from fixed-price contracts.

We have a sales presence in various domestic and foreign locations, and we sell our products and services both directly and indirectly through channel partners, as described below:

Satellite Services Sales Organization. Our satellite services sales organization for our broadband internet services sells directly to residential customers in our retail channel through our Viasat Internet website, sales call centers and through over 1,000 active retailer dealers (including DirecTV). Our satellite services sales organization also includes direct sales and business development personnel who work with enterprises, enterprise-focused master agents and commercial airlines to identify business opportunities and develop solutions for customers’ needs.

Commercial Networks Sales Organization. Our commercial networks sales organization consists of sales managers and sales engineers, who act as the primary interface to establish account relationships and determine technical requirements for customer networks. In addition to our sales force, we maintain a highly trained service staff to provide technical product and service support to our customers. The sales cycle in the commercial network market is often lengthy and it is not unusual for a sale to take up to 18 months from the initial contact through the execution of the agreement. The sales process often includes several network design iterations, network demonstrations and pilot networks consisting of a few sites.

Government Systems Sales Organization. Our government systems sales organization consists of both direct sales personnel who sell our standard products, and business development personnel who work with engineers, program managers, marketing managers and contract managers to identify business opportunities, develop customer relationships, develop solutions for customers’ needs, prepare proposals and negotiate contractual arrangements. The period of time from initial contact through the point of product sale and delivery can take over three years for more complex product developments. Products already in production can usually be delivered to a customer between 90 to 180 days from the point of product sale.

Strategic Partners. To augment our direct sales efforts, we seek to develop key strategic relationships to market and sell our products and services. We direct our sales and marketing efforts to our strategic partners, primarily through our senior management relationships. In some cases a strategic ally may be the prime contractor for a system or network installation and will subcontract a portion of the project to us. In other cases, the strategic ally may recommend us as the prime contractor for the design and integration of the network. We seek strategic relationships and partners based on many factors, including financial resources, technical capability, geographic location and market presence.

Our marketing team works closely with our sales, research and product development organizations and our customers to increase the awareness of the Viasat brand through a mix of positive program performance and our customers’ recommendation as well as corporate and marketing communications, public relations, advertising, trade show participation and conference speaking engagements by providing communications that keep the market current on our products and features. In the third quarter of fiscal year 2018, we undertook a major rebranding effort to introduce “Viasat” as a unified master global brand under a new logo and visual identity system, while phasing out legacy sub-brand names. Our new unified brand is intended to grow market and consumer awareness of our company and our product and service offerings both domestically and internationally across all of our markets, as well as attract the best talent around the world. Our marketing team also identifies and sizes new target markets for our products and services, creates awareness of our company and our portfolio of offerings, and generates contacts and leads within these targeted markets.

Our customer base is highly diversified. Customers in our satellite services segment include residential customers, commercial airlines, small businesses and other enterprise customers of our broadband services. The customers of our government systems and commercial networks segments include the DoD, U.S. National Security Agency, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, allied foreign governments, select other U.S. federal, state and local government agencies, commercial and defense contractors, satellite network integrators, large communications service providers and enterprises requiring complex communications and networking solutions. We enter into government contracts either directly with U.S. or foreign governments, or indirectly through domestic or international partners or resellers. In our commercial networks segment, we also act as both a prime contractor and subcontractor for the sale of equipment and services.

U.S. Government Contracts

Substantial portions of our revenues are generated from contracts and subcontracts with the DoD and other federal government agencies. Many of our contracts are subject to a competitive bid process and are awarded on the basis of technical merit, personnel qualifications, experience and price. We also receive some contract awards involving special technical capabilities on a negotiated, noncompetitive basis due to our unique technical capabilities in special areas. The Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 has encouraged the use of commercial type pricing, such as firm fixed-price contracts, on dual use products. Our future revenues and income could be materially affected by changes in government procurement policies and related oversight, a reduction in expenditures for the products and services we provide, and other risks generally associated with federal government contracts.

We provide products under federal government contracts that usually require performance over a period of several months to multiple years. Long-term contracts may be conditioned upon continued availability of congressional appropriations. Variances between anticipated budget and congressional appropriations may result in a delay, reduction or termination of these contracts.

Our federal government contracts are performed under cost-reimbursement contracts, time-and-materials contracts and fixed-price contracts. Cost-reimbursement contracts provide for reimbursement of costs and payment of a fee. The fee may be either fixed by the contract or variable, based upon cost control, quality, delivery and the customer’s subjective evaluation of the work. Under time-and-materials contracts, we receive a fixed amount by labor category for services performed and are reimbursed for the cost of materials purchased to perform the contract. Under a fixed-price contract, we agree to perform specific work for a fixed price and, accordingly, realize the benefit or detriment to the extent that the actual cost of performing the work differs from the contract price. In fiscal year 2018, approximately 14% of our total government revenues was generated from cost-reimbursement contracts with the federal government or our prime contractors, approximately 1% from time-and-materials contracts and approximately 85% from fixed-price contracts.

We have a sales presence in various domestic and foreign locations, and we sell our products and services both directly and indirectly through channel partners, as described below:

Satellite Services Sales Organization. Our satellite services sales organization for our broadband internet services sells directly to residential customers in our retail channel through our Viasat Internet website, sales call centers and through over 1,000 active retailer dealers (including DirecTV). Our satellite services sales organization also includes direct sales and business development personnel who work with enterprises, enterprise-focused master agents and commercial airlines to identify business opportunities and develop solutions for customers’ needs.

Commercial Networks Sales Organization. Our commercial networks sales organization consists of sales managers and sales engineers, who act as the primary interface to establish account relationships and determine technical requirements for customer networks. In addition to our sales force, we maintain a highly trained service staff to provide technical product and service support to our customers. The sales cycle in the commercial network market is often lengthy and it is not unusual for a sale to take up to 18 months from the initial contact through the execution of the agreement. The sales process often includes several network design iterations, network demonstrations and pilot networks consisting of a few sites.

Government Systems Sales Organization. Our government systems sales organization consists of both direct sales personnel who sell our standard products, and business development personnel who work with engineers, program managers, marketing managers and contract managers to identify business opportunities, develop customer relationships, develop solutions for customers’ needs, prepare proposals and negotiate contractual arrangements. The period of time from initial contact through the point of product sale and delivery can take over three years for more complex product developments. Products already in production can usually be delivered to a customer between 90 to 180 days from the point of product sale.

Strategic Partners. To augment our direct sales efforts, we seek to develop key strategic relationships to market and sell our products and services. We direct our sales and marketing efforts to our strategic partners, primarily through our senior management relationships. In some cases a strategic ally may be the prime contractor for a system or network installation and will subcontract a portion of the project to us. In other cases, the strategic ally may recommend us as the prime contractor for the design and integration of the network. We seek strategic relationships and partners based on many factors, including financial resources, technical capability, geographic location and market presence.

Our marketing team works closely with our sales, research and product development organizations and our customers to increase the awareness of the Viasat brand through a mix of positive program performance and our customers’ recommendation as well as corporate and marketing communications, public relations, advertising, trade show participation and conference speaking engagements by providing communications that keep the market current on our products and features. In the third quarter of fiscal year 2018, we undertook a major rebranding effort to introduce “Viasat” as a unified master global brand under a new logo and visual identity system, while phasing out legacy sub-brand names. Our new unified brand is intended to grow market and consumer awareness of our company and our product and service offerings both domestically and internationally across all of our markets, as well as attract the best talent around the world. Our marketing team also identifies and sizes new target markets for our products and services, creates awareness of our company and our portfolio of offerings, and generates contacts and leads within these targeted markets.