US teleport owner TrustComm is shifting its focus from commercial to government satcoms after being acquired by an investment group led by its CEO Bob Roe.
American investment firm Global Secure Networks (GSN) bought the group from its private owners,…
US teleport owner TrustComm is shifting its focus from commercial to government satcoms after being acquired by an investment group led by its CEO Bob Roe.
American investment firm Global Secure Networks (GSN) bought the group from its private owners, after initially making preference share investments in early 2012.
Under this new ownership, TrustComm said it has begun fine tuning the teleport it operates from a military base in Houston to make it more compliant with the Department of Defense (DoD), as it was originally built to commercial standards.
TrustComm also announced plans to expand operations after opening up its new headquarters in Quantico, Virginia. It has 27 employees split between Houston and Quantico, but expects to almost double that by the end of the year.
The company has been providing satellite solutions from Houston to government agencies and commercial customers since 1999, but COO Ian Canning said the company will benefit from further leveraging on the benefits it can bring to the government market – despite stretched public finances.
“Although overall defence budgets are being reduced, the demand for efficient, cost-effective satellite networking solutions is as strong as ever,” he said in an email to SatelliteFinance.
“As major US government capital programmes get reviewed and delayed, the operational requirement remains — and COMSATCOM is the most efficient way to support those needs.”
Canning added that the upgraded facility will still be able to support the commercial market.
Announcing the completion of the TrustComm sale on 16 April, Roe, who joined as CEO in March 2012 shortly after GSN made its initial investment, said: “Finalising our new ownership is the latest major step in the transformation of TrustComm into the foremost, dedicated provider of secure government COMSATCOM solutions.
“Going forward, we expect to continue our expansion to maintain our strict adherence to the DoD’s demanding information-assurance and operational-security requirements.”
TrustComm also revealed it had been selected as a subcontractor to take part in a five-year military contract that in total is worth US$10bn.
That deal will see Trustcomm work with US technology group Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC), enabling it to compete for tasks under the Global Tactical Advanced Communications Systems and Services (GTACS) programme.
A total of 20 prime contractors have been selected to compete for work under GTACS, which enables both defence and civilian federal agencies to quickly procure a range of tactical communications products, systems and engineering services.
