Georghiou spoke with Via Satellite Editor Jason Bates at Spacenet’s McLean, Va. “The timing worked out just fine, and I thought the challenge was one I was ready to take on - one of running a business that has had its challenges and is now poised to take advantage of some significant opportunities.”

“This is a very interesting period of time for Spacenet and it has to do with where the industry is going and some of the things that are happening,” he says. Spacenet posted revenues of $86.1 million in 2005, and Gilat and Georghiou expect to see that number grow as the company rolls out new product offerings and services and the demand for satellite-related services increases. Georghiou resisted those initial advances, but reconsidered “when the current management of Gilat was brought back to run the business,” and he took the helm at Spacenet in August. In the process, I got to know a lot of the people running Gilat, and throughout this time, they were asking me if I was interested in working for them in some capacity.” We streamlined the business and sold it to Gilat. “Part of that purchase was the VSAT business. “I’ve known them for almost their entire life, going back to the times when I used to compete with GTE Spacenet and then as GE Americom decided to buy them because they had good orbital slots, good satellites and good customers,” he says. This is not the first time that Gilat has asked Georghiou, who has more than 20 years of experience in the industry and most recently served as chief commercial officer for SES Americom, to take over Spacenet. To accomplish this, Gilat has rebuilt Spacenet’s executive team and placed the pressure to perform on the shoulders of CEO Andreas Georghiou.

would like to see better performance from its Spacenet Inc. With demand for satellite services growing, Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.

Spacenet customers government