John Hawker CV

John Hawker
CEO, Majority Share Holder
Sat-Ed Pte Ltd
Singapore,

1981 – 1985 Photographer
1986 – 1991 The Printing Station and Hawker and Son Publishing
!992 – 1996 Media Press and FLP
1996 - 1998 – Newscolour Limited
1998 – 2002 Mentor Data Systems
2002 – Present Sat-Ed Pte Ltd

SAT-ED’s founder, CEO John Hawker, has an extensive background in media, satellite communications and Pay-TV technologies.  His most recent appointment was as Managing Director of Broadband Multimedia Technologies Limited (BMTL) based in Bangkok.  Concurrently, John was the Director of Mentor Data Systems, BMTL’s parent Taiwanese company.

John Hawker started forming the idea of a Satellite based “On Demand” solution for rural and regional education across Asia using iPSTAR, now a key technology partner of Sat-Ed's. SAT-ED is incorporated in Singapore. John has started the main subsidiary company in Thailand, and Sat-Ed is starting trials in China, Vietnam, Cambodia and Malaysia.

After an early career in photography, John Hawker became interested in the many facets of Media and formed “The Printing Station” printing company in 1985. Taking a lead in the early digital capabilities that Personal Computers presented to the printing and publishing industry, John formed another company, “Hawker and Son Publishing” which specialized in producing Medical and Art publications for Australia and SE Asia. The Printing Station pioneered the use of digital technologies imprinting and publishing in Queensland, producing the first solutions to low cost full colour printing.

In 1991 John took the opportunity to move to Sydney and joined “AJBN” Australia Japan Business News, becoming its Managing Editor in 1992. Upon the sale of the publication in 1992 to Media Press, one of the largest independent newspaper printing and publishing companies in Australia, he became the General Manager in 1993. The group managed the printing of over 83 publications, owning 8 newspapers and 2 radio stations, and sourcing content for the emerging Pay TV industry as well.

The group published 5 daily newspapers and weekly publications for the Cumberland Press (Part of News Limited). John introduced the first low cost colour newspaper and developed a system allowing the editors and art staff to produce the newspapers at their desktops, greatly increasing the ability to produce colour and quicken the speed to press.

In 1996 John was asked to take the role as CEO and form Newscolour Limited, a new full colour newspaper printing and publishing company with 1 newspaper, and 1 radio station relayed through 5 subsidiary stations. Building the company up to produce 35 different publications, part of John’s brief was to develop closer media relations, and a growing interest in the Pay TV industry led to the introduction to Mentor Data Systems (MDS) Taiwan and their unique Digital Pay TV technology.

John joined MDS in 1998, and introduced the company to Optus (Now part of SingTel) and developed a business plan for an ethnic Pay TV platform. This became the TARBS group who broadcasted Ethnic Pay TV in Australia up till 2004. He also introduced the company to Thai TV5, who at the time where developing their Global TV Platform.

John established MDS Australia, which became the sole supplier of Set Top Boxes, (STB’s), Conditional Access System (CAS) and Subscriber Management System (SMS) to the TARBS platform. In 2000 John was asked by the major shareholders of MDS to return to the companies head office to become a director, and look after business development globally.

John and MDS played a important role in introducing Digital TV DVB-T into Australia, Taiwan and Thailand.

John established Broadband Multimedia Technologies “BMTL”, a subsidiary of MDS at Software Park Thailand. BMTL had two roles, to develop a software team for MDS, and to look at new applications in the region. John over saw the planning of technology development and business development for platforms using MDS and BMTL services and technologies.

In 2002, following the successful sale of MDS’s CAS to ThaiCom Satellite, John felt that the regional and rural areas of Asia held great promise to use Video and IP services to deliver educational and government services via satellite. John left the MDS to develop this technology platform, Sat-Ed Pte Ltd, for this service market. At the same time he severed his ownership of the remaining newspapers in Australia he had held interest in so as to concentrate on Asia as a region.

International Datacasting being highly recommended as an ideal technology partner, Sat-Ed has since formed a close relationship with the company, as well as other complementary technology and content companies, to provide a complete technology  and content answer delivering upon its charter.

Currently John Hawker and Sat-Ed enjoy the close support from Shinawatra Satellite (ThaiCom), International Datacasting from Canada, SAMART, and various Ministries in Thailand and regionally. Sat-Ed has started multicasting on ThaiCom 5 C Band regionally as of 19 February 2008

The development of the Sat-Ed Digital Librayr is near completeion, with 9 school sites in the South of Thailand under revue from independent thrid party Universities on behalf of the Ministry of Education of Thailand.