Petaluma firm uses satellites to link the world

<p>Petaluma satellite communications provider X2nSat is on a growth track, as customers demand Internet access in some of North America's most remote locations.</p><p>“We get communications to places no one else can,” said Garrett Hill, who heads the 14-year-old business.</p><p>That includes the far corners of Alaska and ships at sea. “There are places that wireless can't go,” Hill said. “The only connection is satellite.”</p><p>X2nSat stands to gain from the federal broadband stimulus program, which earmarked $8 billion in grants and loans for rural telecom companies to extend their networks. Telecom providers use the Petaluma company's technology to reach far-flung customers.</p><p>Last week, X2nSat won approval from Petaluma's Planning Commission for a satellite communications complex in Redwood Business Park, with room for 34 parabolic satellite antennas and related equipment.</p><p>The satellite dishes would range in diameter from 25 feet to less than 2.5 feet. They would replace antennas that X2nSat is leasing at other locations, Hill said.</p><p>“The goal is to consolidate our facilities,” he said.</p><p>The company said it will start with four or five antennas and add more as it grows. It didn't disclose the cost of the project.</p><p>Meanwhile, X2nSat is planning to move into a larger headquarters in Petaluma next year. The company has about 40 employees, and expects to hire additional staff in the future, Hill said.</p><p>The company uses VSAT (very small aperture terminal) technology, with ground stations linked to satellites orbiting Earth. The two-way network delivers voice, data, fax and broadband Internet service to locations beyond the reach of ground-based communications.</p><p>In Petaluma, employees design, build and manage satellite-based networks for a range of customers.</p><p>X2nSat's service is employed by emergency responders, including police, fire and National Guard. Mobile satellite communication is critical in hurricanes, earthquakes, floods and other disasters that knock out wireline and wireless systems, Hill said.</p><p>Large companies also are using X2nSat's service as backup for their internal and cloud-based networks, he said.</p><p>Hill got his start in Telecom Valley in the 1990s, working with companies including Advanced Fibre Communications. He was involved in an early Internet-by-satellite project linking the U.S. and Japan. That prompted him to launch his own satellite communications business, Advanced Projects International.</p><p>“We realized we were the world experts in what we did,” he said.</p><p>The business changed its name to X2nSat in 2009.</p>