The first annual Australian Microcap Investment Conference was held last month on the 3rd of August at the Sofitel Melbourne on Collins, Melbourne. The conference showcased speakers from Microcap listed companies, providing members from the investment community with the opportunity to hear directly from some of Australia's leading Microcap CEO's and managing directors as they discussed their strategies, business environments and growth prospects.

NewSat's CEO Adrian Ballintine spoke about the sophisticated communication solutions which satellite technology can deliver and, while innovation comes with risk, it is the new and innovative products that allow one to move away from the pack and deliver the best returns.

Critical success factors for early stage technology companies

Chuck Ellison, the Deputy Chairman of NewSat Limited, is a 30-year veteran of the technology industry. Chuck has worked extensively for Microsoft and Ashton Tate and was asked what he believed the critical success factors for early stage technology companies were. How does your company shape up?

Chuck Ellison
I've been asked to describe the behavior common across the early-stage technology companies, at which I've worked, that went on to achieve success. Even though the product offerings and business models varied greatly among the companies, those shared traits are actually easy to identify because they were such a dominant feature of each. Here are a few:

Satellite capacity is expensive right? Not necessarily! Traditional satellite circuits use separate satellite bandwidth channels, which can increase communication costs; however major bandwidth savings (up to 40%) can be made through the utilisation of optimisation techniques such as carrier in carrier technologies.

Your satellite network is made up of a combination of capital and operational expenses that allow the transmission of data. The space ‘leased' on the satellite, the antenna and amplifiers required to transmit and receive the satellite signals and modems to modulate, demodulate and code the user's data.

Specialist providers like NewSat are able to add value to their customer's satellite services by optimizing each of the technology components so that their service is financially efficient in the use of the satellite power and bandwidth required to transmit and receive customer's data.

Nacap commenced construction last month on a circa 950 kilometre pipeline for Epic Energy, which will run from Wallumbilla in South East Queensland to Moomba in South Australia. The pipeline will carry coal seam transport gas to the South Eastern state markets via Moomba. The remote landscape through which this pipe will run presents a communication blackspot. Therefore during the course of this project Nixon Communications in conjunction with its partner NewSat, who provide satellite services to Nixon Communications, will provide and manage communications via satellite to all campsites along the pipeline.

To meet the project's vast operational and administrative requirements (3 x 300 bed capacity), fully self-sufficient transportable camps will have access to full high-speed voice and data services. During the course of this project NewSat and Nixon Communications will support 50-60 heavy data users, providing full data services back to head office. Wireless Internet and VoIP will also be available to the 450+ camp residents.

Support, Quality, Price, Experience, Capabilities. What do all these mean when evaluating your satellite service? Are you able to answer yes to these five questions? If not, perhaps it is time to re-evaluate your satellite provider.