Citing major clients such as ESPN, The Playboy Channel and Hustler, satellite company executive Ramu Potarazu spoke about an industry that many use but few know much about.
Potarazu is the president and chief operating officer of Intelsat -- one of the major satellite manufacturing and operation companies.
He spoke Wednesday to students and faculty about the challenges of keeping the world connected. He pointed out that people use satellites to make calls from cell phones, watch TV and even check e-mail, but they may not realize it.
According to Potarazu, not only is the rate of communication increasing, but the way in which people communicate is changing and evolving.
"I haven't seen any reason that communications are going down," Potarazu said.
He also pointed out that the increased use of Blackberries -- cell phones that can surf the Internet and check e-mail -- demonstrates the growing impact of communication and satellites on our lives.
Potarazu claimed that major events in the news media, such as the death of the Pope, are another factor that stimulates growth in business in the satellite industry. In the future he believes that the emerging high-definition technology will stimulate further growth in the satellite industry.
Though the company began as an international consortium owned by private individuals and corporations, the company has come under the scrutiny of the U.S. government and competitors for its monopoly on the industry.
Intelsat is the only company in history that the U.S. government has forced to go public through legislation -- a law aptly titled the Orbit Act.
The government has tried to force the company to go public three times as part of efforts to privatize the industry, but due to events such as Sept. 11 and investor bankruptcies, the efforts have not had any measure of success.
Potarazu told the story of PanAmSat, one of their competitors in the early 1990s, that designed the logo of a dog urinating on the Intelsat company headquarters.
Jatin Atre, a Ph.D. student in the Annenberg School and one of the organizers of the event, said Potarazu was a strong speaker.
"Very few people know something about [satellite technology], but at the same time ... it has a huge impact on the entire media world," Atre said.
Potarazu also cautioned students not to wait until they have reached his age to gain experience in the business world.
"Try to get as much of a breadth of the different technologies and business environments out there because this is the time to do it," Potarazu said.
