If you are referring to PCMA(there may have been a typo in your question), the ideal sat would have certain power/bandwidth design factors, be all Ku-band, and employ approximately 700 mile diameter spot beams. That would get you the max capacity. ViaSat's technology would still give you a benefit on existing sats.
"Are you aware that any such satellites exist or are planned? Naturally, I would expect LOR to be in the forefront of this."
That is the key question in my mind. I am trying to find this out. ViaSat's comments would indicate that they are currently working with a "large sat manufacturer" that I am assuming is Loral. It is definitely not Hughes, unlikely to be Lockheed. An initial launch might consist of a few transponders on a sat up there, or to be launched. In the to-be-launched category, there are slim pickings. L-Star would have to be totally reworked to handle telephony, Orion 3 is a possibility, Telstar 6&7 are for North American operations, and Morelos III could be used for Latin America. Agila II provides coverage to the Phillipines, Taiwan , and Eastern China, and Loral already owns Ku-band transponders there.
In the to-be-built category, if it is true that G* has filed for GEO slots to supplement their fixed site telephony, then I believe you can make an extremely strong case that those sats would be "optimized" for ViaSat's telephony technology. If they do land this business, ViaSat is the most undervalued stock I have ever encountered. So undervalued in fact that they would more than likely be a takeover candidate. This is all speculation at this point, but we should know more in the third or fourth quarter of 98.
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