Valero Selects Spacenet For Broadband Satellite Network To Make Service Available To Approximately 4,000 Retail & Wholesale Petroleum Sites In the US and Canada
Spacenet’s high-speed VSAT solution will help improve customer service and business efficiencies
McLean, VA, September 3, 2003 – Spacenet Inc. today announced it has been selected by Valero Energy Corporation (NYSE: VLO) to make available a broadband satellite communications network to its chain of 4,000 retail and wholesale outlets in the US and Canada for support of rapid credit authorization and other interactive data applications.
With annual revenues of more than $30 billion, Valero is the nation’s largest independent refining and marketing company, operating under brand names that include Diamond Shamrock, Ultramar, Valero, Beacon, and Shamrock. As part of its corporate initiative to grow its branded wholesale distribution, Valero has developed a comprehensive campaign to maximize the value it brings to its retailers. Persistent broadband connectivity is an important aspect of this campaign, as it enables improved customer service through speedier credit and ATM transactions and increased efficiency of store operations through support of new business applications.
To address this important initiative, Valero has established a multi-year contract with Spacenet for provision of its Connexstar broadband VSAT service. The Connexstar service will be used to support both Valero’s wholesale and retail business requirements. In addition to supporting both serial and IP credit and ATM applications, the Connexstar network will also be used to support ATM transactions, nightly polling and a variety of other business applications including Internet and Intranet access.
“Our combination of retail and wholesale outlets posed an especially unique challenge for choosing an appropriate technology and service provider,” said Ken Applegate, Valero’s vice president of wholesale marketing. “We have a wide variety of devices that we need to support and, because many of our customers are independent jobbers, we have rather unique contracting relationships, as well. Spacenet proved to be extremely capable in supporting our various devices and applications, and they have been an outstanding business partner in terms of working with us to develop a contracting arrangement suited to our needs. And on the retail side, Spacenet’s solution has also provided superior economics over the existing infrastructure, so it is yielding important operational savings.”
Spacenet Vice President of Sales and Marketing, David Shiff, said “VSAT technology has long been the networking solution of choice in the gas and convenience-store market. Nevertheless, for various reasons there are still a number of organizations that have yet to adopt the technology. Valero had a number of both technical and business challenges associated with their requirements, and we are particularly pleased that we have been able to meet all of their needs. We are very excited about playing a role in their brand expansion effort and look forward to a long and successful relationship.”
About Valero
Valero Energy Corporation is a Fortune 500 company based in San Antonio, with approximately 20,000 employees and annual revenues of more than $30 billion. The company currently owns and operates 14 refineries in 13 locations throughout the United States and Canada. Valero’s refineries have a combined throughput capacity of over two million barrels per day, which represents approximately 10 percent of the total U.S. refining capacity. Valero is also one of the nation’s largest retail operators with approximately 4,000 retail outlets in the United States and Canada under various brand names including Diamond Shamrock, Ultramar, Valero, Beacon, Total and Shamrock.
About Spacenet
Spacenet Inc. provides two-way satellite-based broadband networking solutions throughout North America under the Connexstar brand, and has more than 15 years’ experience in providing connectivity, provisioning, operations and maintenance to enterprise and government customers, including some of the largest satellite-based networks in the world. Spacenet is based in McLean, Virginia, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Gilat Satellite Networks, Ltd. Visit Spacenet at www.spacenet.com.
Spacenet Media Contact:
David Myers
Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Development
(703) 848-1200
david.myers@spacenet.com
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