ViaSat Opens R&D Facility In India, Growth Plans On Track

Premium provider of broadband and communications products & services, ViaSat Inc. (NASDAQ:VSAT) , recently announced the opening of its first Research and Development (R&D) center in Chennai, India. This reflects the company’s strategy to bolster its foothold in the Indian subcontinent and leverage on the country’s talented human pool to drive innovation.

Innovative Efforts

This new R&D facility will help the company provide high-speed broadband Internet in India. The country’s strategic geopolitical location makes it the perfect gateway in Asia, helping ViaSat to forge ahead with its globalization plans. Eventually, the company plans to use this R&D facility to come up with next-generation cloud, networking and network management applications for the market going forward.

Expected to house 125 engineers in the 30,000 square feet establishment, the R&D facility perfectly complements Indian government’s vision to transform into a digitally-empowered society through initiatives like “Digital India” and “Smart Cities”. The company affirmed that if the government allows the deployment of the upcoming ViaSat-3 class, it will largely supplement the country’s gross domestic product.

Upcoming Launches

Going forward, ViaSat has ambitious plans regarding its satellite business.The company’s ViaSat-1 satellite platform has acted as a major growth driver since its launch in 2012. Presently the company is moving full steam ahead with its plans to launch ViaSat-2 satellite broadband platform in collaboration with Arianespace. Also, the company is ramping up investments in the development of its revolutionary ViaSat-3 broadband communications platform. These satellites will also be capable of covering one-third of the world, including Americas by 2019, and Europe, the Middle East and Africa region by 2020.

The recent R&D facility complements the company’s innovative efforts and will likely lend support to its product launch drive as the region offers skilled labor at reasonable rates. We believe that the momentous market traction of ViaSat-1 satellites coupled with the strategically planned ViaSat-2 and ViaSat-3 satellites will lend ViaSat a competitive edge over its peers.

ViaSat currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the sector include Clearfield, Inc. (NASDAQ:CLFD) , Ubiquiti Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ:UBNT) and Exa Corporation (NASDAQ:EXA) , each sporting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy).