[SatNews] Many South American countries now have access to...

ViaSat Inc. has completed the addition of Yonder® high-speed Internet coverage over Chile, Argentina, Bolivia, Peru, Columbia, Ecuador, and surrounding areas. ViaSat is adding this coverage in cooperation with regional provider Andesat S. A. Andesat leases bandwidth on the Intelsat IS-14 satellite and also operates teleport facilities in Santiago where ViaSat has installed a regional gateway. Yonder service has been tested in the new area and is operational for maritime and aviation customers. Andesat will also provide data services to mobile service customers in the region.

The combination of ViaSat airborne high-speed Internet equipment and Yonder data and voice service provides business aircraft passengers with a high-speed, office-in-the-sky experience that is on-par with the latest in home and office IP network applications and services. The Yonder network, which ViaSat operates with partner KVH Industries Inc., delivers a typical user experience of 1 to 2 Mbps data to the aircraft, and up to 512 kbps data from the aircraft. A growing fleet of over 150 business aircraft, plus 200 military and special mission aircraft, connect through the Yonder mobile broadband service network. KVH offers its comparable mini-VSAT service over the same network to commercial shipping customers, private yacht owners, and the U.S. Coast Guard.