Viasat says its satcom services, including in aviation, were only “minimally impacted” by China’s monthslong sanctions against the US firm.
On 7 January, China sanctioned Viasat and four other American defense-related firms in what was seen as a largely symbolic response to US weapons sales to Taiwan, as AP reported at the time.
Some close observers of the inflight connectivity market were surprised by China’s decision. For years, Viasat had laid the groundwork to support high-speed IFC at Chinese airlines by forging key agreements with Chinese technology providers including China Satcom.
Such pacts are effectively the cost of doing business in China. And by December 2022, Viasat counted Sichuan Airlines as a customer. Additionally, after acquiring London-headquartered Inmarsat and its satellite assets last year, Viasat picked up meaningful cockpit communications business in China.
During a 22 July 2024 press conference, Mao Ning, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, confirmed that:
In accordance with China’s Anti-Foreign Sanctions Law and other relevant laws, since the circumstances based on which the countermeasures were issued have changed, China has decided to lift the countermeasures against Viasat.
Bloomberg referred to the decision as a “rare reversal” for China. RGN sought comment from the Carlsbad, California-based satellite operator and aero ISP.
“Viasat is pleased to confirm it has been removed from the list of sanctioned companies previously announced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China on January 7th this year,” it said.
“The announcement means that Viasat, Inc. is permitted to enable services in China in accordance with legal and regulatory requirements of that jurisdiction, including providing roaming service to our international airline customers flying into and over China.”
Notably, when asked about the impact to IFC of China’s prior sanctions, the company stated: “Viasat always operates in accordance with the legal and regulatory requirements of the US and of any country in which it provides services.
“Under Chinese law, Viasat’s subsidiaries were permitted to continue operating in China and our services were therefore minimally impacted.”
Viasat, which has an office in Beijing, did not provide an update on its IFC rollout at Sichuan Airlines.
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Featured image credited to istock.com/onurdongel
