Vanguard Magazine

44 FEBRUARY/MARCH 2017 www.vanguardcanada.com See the full interview online Q How did you start out in this industry and how has it brought you to where you are today? I started in the commercial satellite in- dustry with a firm called PanAmSat which was founded by a media executive, Rene Anselmo, who risked most of his fortune to launch the world's first private interna- tional satellite — a daring and bold move. So, it was a terrific place to learn as a young executive. Q What was your "aha" moment or epiphany that you think will resonate most with our readers? Four years ago, when we were exploring the design of the E115WB with Eutelsat, we realized there was a unique opportu- nity. It was a confluence of factors – a satellite with unused resources, an orbital position that is arguably the best for all- Canada coverage, and a "small" techni- cal detail of having neighboring satellites twice the distance away compared to nor- mal. That detail was critical for being able to deliver service to small antennas at a fraction of the cost over Canada. With in-flight connectivity (i.e. Wi-Fi internet services on planes) being the industry's biggest growth market, and all clients in general preferring smaller satellite anten- nas, the timing was perfect for us to invest in this beam and to invest in Canadian sat- ellite services. Q Step back and analyze your journey; what is the takeaway you want to give to our audience? The satellite industry has not been around for all that long, but the impact on our armed forces and the Canadian public in general has been remarkable. Just 40 years ago, no television signals were available over much of Canada, minimal weather data existed, and long-distance commu- nications in general were quite limited. Fast-forward to today, satellites play such a key role in so many areas of communica- tions, earth observation, reducing or con- trolling armed conflict around the globe. We of course have serious issues to address in Canada and the world today. Given that, it's easy to forget sometimes that our world is so much healthier, safer, and wealthier than it was just 100 years ago. If you really delve into it, satellites have played an important and often unseen role in making that happen, so I'm proud of my industry, and I'm excited about all the upcoming advances. Q What is the one thing that has you most fired up today? I'm excited about the unprecedented growth in the satellite industry with new entrants and new types of satellite constel- lations. Q What are the biggest impedi- ments to innovation in today's enter- prise? Satellites are inherently a long-term busi- ness cycle. They take a long time to de- sign/finance/build, and a long time to achieve payback. That is evolving and getting faster and better. But we are still launching spacecraft that have no ability to be upgraded or changed once in orbit. When we change that dynamic, it will be a revolutionary improvement. Q How has innovation become engrained in your organization's culture and how is it being optimized? Hunter makes every effort to be service minded – it's engrained in our DNA – so if we can give our customers an edge by employing new methods or technology, then we are quick and decisive to imple- ment them. Q What is your parting piece of advice? The pace of technology is advancing ex- ponentially. So if a technology doubles every two years, then after 10 years it has advanced 32 times, and after 20 years it has advanced 1024 times. As a country, our ability to take advantage of new advance- ments will define how we succeed or not. Our government plays a key role in all of this through both regulation and procure- ment, and I am concerned that the current structure of procurement is just not set up to handle this exponential growth and the integration of these advances. Frankly, I don't think any government has it all fig- ured out, but we have a chance to be out front. To do so, much of the process and procedure that seems to stifle things needs to be eliminated. I'm not advocating free reign, but for speed and less minute scru- tiny of the decisions from our civil servants, so that they feel empowered to do their job. The public, entrepreneurs, inventors and industry will find solutions to govern- ment and public needs – and at an ever- faster pace. But we need a system that can take advantage of the pace. Brent Perrott presiDent Hunter CommuniCations, inC. g gAMe CHANGER

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