The air at the third Annual All-Russia VSAT 2011 Championship was full of fun and competition as participants gathered recently at Bear Lakes near Moscow to face off in this high-speed VSAT (very small aperture terminal) installation event. Organized by leading service provider Settelecom, the championship was officially sponsored by RTComm, part of the Rostelecom family of companies, and supported by the Federal Communications Agency, Russian Satellite Communications Company, and the Global VSAT Forum. Hughes was the general sponsor.

Ten teams of two certified engineers each from regional distributors competed in the race to fully assemble and install VSAT equipment, including antenna pointing and cabling. Congratulations to the “Polluks,” the winning team of Oleg Gorshkov and Andrey Evmenenko from Kaluga, who completed the installation in 8 minutes and 42 seconds—a new record in Russia!

The talented winners walked away with prizes that included Hughes satellite terminals and free annual broadband Internet access and technical support. In addition, the Global VSAT Forum offered the winners training courses on Hughes HN and HX systems.

Commenting on the event, Arunas Slekys, vice president of corporate marketing and Russia/CIS, said, “Underlying this fun event is the importance of satellite technology in Russia’s telecom infrastructure, providing access to vital applications such as Internet access, distance learning, and telemedicine, and thereby stimulating economic and social development. The market for satellite networks and services is growing rapidly in Russia and the CIS countries, with Hughes having supplied to date over 20 operators with more than 36,000 broadband terminals—over half the market. These highly skilled VSAT installation specialists are key to making it happen.”

Today, Russia is poised to expand into high-capacity, Ka-band satellite services, and as the leading satellite technology provider in Russia and globally, Hughes is committed to helping realize this exciting vision of universally available broadband.