Survey Finds Satellite Internet Essential for Tele-health Services, Work-from-Home Applications and General Communications During Ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic

Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global communications company, today revealed results from its 2021 consumer connectivity survey showing the role satellite-based connectivity has played in keeping Americans connected during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The survey findings, which leveraged Qualtrics data from over 1,000 household internet users living and working across the U.S., cited:

Satellite-based tele-health services were widely used during the pandemic, with many respondents planning their continued use in a post-pandemic world. 

87% of respondents used tele-health applications and/or services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

35% of rural-based respondents participated in tele-health appointments for the first time. Of those respondents, 48% plan to use tele-health applications and services more regularly in the future.

Respondents felt they could work-from-home using satellite internet, even after the pandemic.  

66% of rural-based respondents indicated they are planning to work-from-home post-pandemic, if given the opportunity by their employer.

When asked to rank the most important business applications they used while working remotely, respondents highlighted email (29%) as the most important application, followed by video calls (21%), large document uploads (15%), large document downloads (15%), instant messaging (11%), VPN (8%) and other services (2%).

The most essential internet activity during the ongoing pandemic has been email.

According to survey results, email (26%) was the most important internet activity used during the pandemic, followed by browsing (20%), streaming video (11%), social media (9%), sharing pictures (8%), uploading/downloading files (7%), teleconferencing (6%), online school tools (4%), streaming radio (3%), online gaming (3%), VPN (2%) and other services (1%).

Steven Mesnick, chief marketing officer of Viasat's Global Fixed Broadband business commented, "The survey is a reminder that as people navigate the current and post-pandemic world, having access to reliable connectivity—even in the hardest-to-reach locations across the U.S.—is essential for connecting patients with doctors, employees with colleagues and families from anywhere. The high-value of ensuring more people can connect to more online services is a key reason why we continue to invest in bringing better satellite systems to market, like our next-generation satellite constellation, ViaSat-3. When this system goes into consumer service, we will be able to deliver significantly faster speeds, more data and enhanced streaming capabilities from space—all of which we will be testing later this year in preparation for the ViaSat-3 launch."

Viasat is committed to delivering more bandwidth, speeds and data to its residential customers. During the pandemic, the Company implemented multiple optimization and web acceleration techniques to mitigate network congestion by prioritizing critical business, health and education applications to get preferential access compared to other non-essential high-bandwidth traffic. These efforts have helped the Company receive various accolades by consumer outlets including being named the 'Best Satellite Provider' among U.S. rural internet service providers (ISPs) by CNET and receiving the Best Satellite Internet Speed designation by ZDNet.

About Viasat

Viasat is a global communications company that believes everyone and everything in the world can be connected. For more than 35 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the world communicate. Today, the Company is developing the ultimate global communications network to power high-quality, secure, affordable, fast connections to impact people's lives anywhere they are—on the ground, in the air or at sea. To learn more about Viasat, visit: www.viasat.com, go to Viasat's Corporate Blog, or follow the Company on social media at: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube.

Forward-Looking Statements 

This press release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbors created under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include statements that refer to the expected bandwidth, data and speeds of the ViaSat-3 satellite constellation. Readers are cautioned that actual results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include: risks associated with the construction, launch and operation of Viasat's satellites, including the effect of any anomaly, operational failure or degradation in satellite performance; the ability to successfully implement Viasat's business plan for broadband satellite services on Viasat's anticipated timeline or at all; contractual problems; product defects; manufacturing issues or delays; regulatory issues; technologies not being developed according to anticipated schedules, or that do not perform according to expectations; Viasat's ability to realize the anticipated benefits of its satellite platforms; and increased competition and other factors affecting the connectivity sector, generally. In addition, please refer to the risk factors contained in Viasat's SEC filings available at www.sec.gov, including Viasat's most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Viasat undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements for any reason.

Copyright © 2021 Viasat, Inc. All rights reserved. Viasat, the Viasat logo and the Viasat signal are registered trademarks of Viasat, Inc. All other product or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Viasat, Inc.