Speedcast Names James Feger as Chief Technology Officer, Focused on Driving Further Advancements to the Company’s Hybrid Connectivity Platform
Speedcast has announced the appointment of James Feger as Chief Technology Officer for the company, focused on driving enhancements to the multi-path connectivity service that it delivers to global customers operating in areas with limited or no terrestrial connectivity options.
Speedcast has led the industry in seamlessly integrating legacy satellite networks with new-to-market low Earth orbit (LEO) offerings and terrestrial networks to deliver 100 percent uptime for customers. Last year, the company was the first to ink a partnership with Starlink to become an integrator of the low-latency service, and earlier this year, it became the first to deliver a live deployment for OneWeb’s Maritime LEO service as part of a distribution partnership agreement.
“I’m excited to join the company at such a pivotal time in the industry and to help drive enhancements to Speedcast’s software-defined wide area networking solutions, designed to help customers gain reliability, efficiency, and security from the network stability and redundancy that comes from a hybrid connectivity service,” said Feger. “This technology will be central to bringing together legacy satellite networking with the new world of LEO constellations and the wider telecommunication ecosystem, and Speedcast is poised to be that bridge to the future for our customers and partners.”
Feger has more than 20 years of management experience in network design, security, technology operations, and virtualization technologies. He previously served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Service Provider business at F5, a $3 billion-dollar technology company specializing in application security, multi-cloud management, fraud prevention and application performance. Prior to F5, he served in multiple technology leadership roles at CenturyLink, where he successfully developed and deployed virtualized services replacing traditional infrastructure at more than 50 locations around the world.
“James’ experience in delivering carrier-grade solutions for demanding customer sets makes him a perfect fit for Speedcast,” said Joe Spytek, CEO at Speedcast, in announcing the appointment. “We’re also preparing to introduce a new advanced architecture for our SIGMA network management platform, where his experience with virtualization and complex network technology implementation will contribute to its success in the market.”
The cloud-based SIGMA platform enables customers to harness innovative technologies and applications to transform what remote operations can achieve, providing smarter ways to communicate and distribute content, manage network and remote operations, protect and secure investments, and improve the remote staff and guest experience to meet ever-greater network expectations with zero tradeoffs.
SIGMA has been a critical component of connectivity solutions for leading organizations, including German shipping company Reederei F. Laeisz; travel leaders Lindblad Expeditions and Hurtigruten Expeditions; Brazil’s largest banking institution, Itaú Unibanco; and the Australian Antarctic Division. SIGMA’s new architecture, scheduled for introduction in late Q3, enables an ecosystem of services and edge applications that further virtualize the platform, reducing requirements for edge hardware and speeding implementation.
Feger brings to Speedcast a strong technical leadership background that ranges from developing, deploying, and operating networks on a global scale. In his most recent role, he worked with the world’s largest Communication Service Providers, developing solutions for their infrastructures, focused on reliability, security, efficiency, and mass operational scale.