Fulfilling its goal of creating a seamless global maritime VSAT network, KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq:KVHI) today announced that coverage for the last remaining region in KVH's original network plan — South America — is now under contract and scheduled to go live in July 2011 using the IS-14 satellite. This joint effort by KVH and its partner, ViaSat, Inc. (Nasdaq:VSAT) will provide mini-VSAT Broadband™ service to leisure mariners, commercial shipping and fishing vessels, and the expanding South American oil and gas industry, as well as network coverage for ViaSat's Yonder® in-flight broadband network for commercial and business aircraft.
"The addition of South American coverage completes our global Ku-band mini-VSAT Broadband network, the groundbreaking satellite communication solution that brings reliable, affordable satellite communications to our customers via our TracPhone® V-series antennas," says Brent Bruun, KVH's senior vice president for sales and business development. "Commercial and leisure marine users worldwide recognize the unique benefits offered by our combination of high-speed data and voice service, ultra-small antennas, and global coverage. Already, mini-VSAT Broadband is the fastest growing maritime VSAT solution as well as an increasingly popular replacement for older, slower, and more costly L-band services. We look forward to bringing this same award-winning service to subscribers working, cruising, and traveling through South American waters."
"This is also an important expansion of our Yonder mobile service coverage over South America, including Argentina, Chile, Bolivia, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, and surrounding areas," said Don Buchman, ViaSat's director of mobile broadband. "This one-of-a-kind service has become mission critical for both aviation and maritime subscribers."
A managed airtime network solution, mini-VSAT Broadband equips vessels with the highest data rates available today with downloads as fast as 2 Mbps and uploads as fast as 512 Kbps, as well as Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone lines with optimized service and prioritization of applications. The network uses ViaSat ArcLight® spread spectrum technology, which was previously available only for military applications. Multiple airtime plans are available, including simple metered plans ($0.99 for data and $0.49 per minute for voice services and packages starting at less than $50 per month) and fixed monthly and seasonal plans with even lower data and voice costs. These benefits are available to mariners on any size vessel, for any application, and even in adverse weather conditions via the award-winning 24" TracPhone V7 and compact, 14.5" TracPhone V3 antennas and the integrated ArcLight modem.
"With the new satellite capacity on IS-14 servicing South America, mini-VSAT Broadband seamlessly links 14 transponders on 10 satellites to provide service around the globe," explains Mr. Bruun. "As a result, our worldwide network provides a unique coverage model, including more expansive satellite coverage in the Indian Ocean Region than competing Ku-band VSAT services along with redundant coverage from multiple satellites in most regions. In addition, KVH manages the end-to-end solution, including the satellite network, hubs, operations center, and onboard equipment. The result is the most reliable maritime VSAT communications available."