Paul Weldon joined ASC Signal’s team as Senior Vice President of Global Sales in January, 2010. He is responsible for leading the company’s worldwide sales team and driving revenue growth by more than 100 percent within five years. He has been building and leading sales teams for high growth tech companies for more than 15 years. Prior to joining ASC Signal, Paul was Vice President of Sales of Trusonic Inc., a leading provider of digital audio distribution for commercial applications. During his tenure at Trusonic, Weldon helped the company achieve 40 percent sales growth in one year.
Mr. Weldon serves on the Advisory Board for Concordia University’s Business School in Irvine, California. He also earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration from Concordia University in Irvine, California.
SatMagazine (SM)
Would you please explain to our readers what your Company’s presence is within the Asia-Pacific satellite communications and ancillary market arenas? What sort of experience does your Company possess within the Asia-Pacific satellite markets?
Paul Weldon
ASC Signal has more than 40 years experience designing and manufacturing satellite Earth station antennas from 3.5m to 9.4m apertures. These operate at the full commercial satellite frequency spectrum, C- to Ka-band, deployed within networks for broadcast and enterprise applications. ASC Signal’s experience extends beyond the antenna system itself to complete Earth station configuration and integration, including RF amplifiers, up/down converters, redundancy threads, receive-chain electronics and network management software. In the Asia-Pacific (APAC)region, the Company has been providing antennas and systems for several decades, including the build-out of the region’s first, and largest, commercial Ka-band network.
SM
Why did your Company enter this market? How long has your Company been involved in this segment?
Paul Weldon
We entered this market in the early ‘80s as many of the communications providers in the region were developing and deploying their requirements for high-performance satellite antennas. Many of the ASC antenna products installed in the early ‘80s are outperforming some of the new entrants’ antennas installed just in the last few years.
SM
Are you focused on any particular segments, due to their growth potential? (i.e., launch, manufacturing, teleport, security, milsatcom, imagery, satellite broadcast, and others.) What market segments in Asia do you believe are the most promising for your Company? What have been your most successful products for APAC?
Paul Weldon
ASC Signal is focused on supporting commercial provider’s needs for teleports and satellite broadcast applications as these are the types of high-performance networks our products are geared to serve. In addition, the Company has taken its strength in designing robust, high-performing commercial products, and been actively supplying them to meet critical defense applications. We see this opportunity in the APAC region, as well as others worldwide.
The Company has designed and provided highly advanced sub-reflector tracking (SRT) technology which provides a higher level of tracking accuracy and gain stability not typically achievable by most antennas in this category. IP Star, the Asia-Pacific’s leading broadband satellite operator, is a strong example of a Ka-band provider which has benefitted from this advanced, accurate technology. We have also provided a significant number of transportable terminals to defense agencies within Australia.
SM
The challenges are numerous for entry into, and for business sustainment within, this area of the world. What do you see as among the most formidable challenges to surmount?
Paul Weldon
ASC does see challenges in this region, but we truly believe that our experience in supporting the new, Ka-band systems in North America, including Hughes, DirecTV, and WildBlue, will continue to support the growing and vibrant Asia-Pacific region. Our technology is flexible and robust, and is able to compete against many other manufacturers of small, relatively lower-quality antennas.
SM
Given the state of the global economy, how do you rate the Asia-Pacific market as far as its viability for income generation and growth over the next year or two? Where do you believe the opportunities for growth exist?
Paul Weldon
ASC believes there is substantial growth potential over the next few years. The opportunities are in Ka-band gateways and remote terminals, and expansion of our largest aperture antennas for teleports and mobile terminals (including our 2.4m nomadic and tactical systems and our 3.5m – 4.6m Tri-fold systems).
SM
What applications are driving the demand for satellite-delivered communications in the Asia-Pacific region? What do you see as the major focuses for driving existing and new business in this arena?
Paul Weldon
The applications where we see growth are similar to those in other parts of the world: mobile terminals, Ka-band gateways and remote terminals, and large-aperture teleport gateways.
SM
Have you offered any guidance to your business teams and/or shareholders as to how you project your Company’s quarterly earnings for this market, and for the global market overall?
Paul Weldon
We are optimistic about the continued growth of our business, based on the leadership position we have in providing high-performance antenna technology (especially in Ka-band) and in various mobile solutions.
SM
How do you believe the Asia-Pacific satellite market (from communications to satellite broadcasting) will impact global, as well as your Company’s, business opportunities?
Paul Weldon
Some of the largest opportunities in the Earth station antenna market are being generated in the Asia-Pacific region and we see a good percentage of our future growth coming from this market.
SM
What new technologies and/or products can we expect to see or hear about from your Company over the next year?
Paul Weldon
The Company plans to deliver our 2.4m nomadic and tactical antennas to our first customers in the Asia-Pacific region in the next six months. We designed this new antenna to support the very discriminating mobile products market, where both commercial and defense users want highly-mobile, flexible and cost-effective terminals. These antennas are capable of operating in L-, S-, X-, C-, K-, Ku-, Ka-, Q- and V-bands, including our low-PIM versions. And, as we di d with our Next Generation Controller (as well as the new upgrades we will release later this year), we designed this advanced antenna to be highly modular and expandable to suit a wide variety of applications. It is the most versatile, cost-effective antenna system of its type, and we’re very excited about the opportunities it represents for us.
ASC Signal’s website: http://ascsignal.com/