[SatNews] KVH Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq:KVHI) has a new distribution agreement with Furuno Electric Co., Ltd. (Furuno) for KVH's mini-VSAT Broadband(sm) service.

Under the terms of this arrangement, Furuno will begin marketing and selling mini-VSAT Broadband airtime service and supporting equipment along with a compatible 1-meter antenna system on a global basis through its established distributor and dealer channels. The mini-VSAT Broadband network was designed from the ground up to be the first nexgen maritime satellite communications solution. Offering service, airtime costs, and performance superior to traditional maritime VSAT services through a global spread spectrum satellite network, this seamless worldwide network is delivered by 12 satellite transponders and nine secure Earth stations and offers voice service and Internet access as fast as 512 Kbps (upload) and 2 Mbps (download). This common architecture makes global integration with a shipping company's IT infrastructure simple while also assuring automatic switching between satellites as a vessel transits between regions.