TMCnet News
KVH mini-VSAT Broadband Service Goes LiveAug 11, 2009 (Close-Up Media via COMTEX) -- KVH Industries announced the successful activation of its mini-VSAT Broadband service in Asia-Pacific waters in collaboration with SKY Perfect JSAT (SP-JSAT) via the JCSAT-1B satellite. This expands mini-VSAT Broadband's capacity to support the world's commercial shipping market, with 13 of the world's 20 busiest ports in terms of cargo tonnage located within the new coverage area. "With the addition of live service in the Asia-Pacific market, we look forward to providing outstanding and affordable broadband data and voice services to commercial and leisure mariners throughout the region," said Brent C. Bruun, KVH's vice president of sales and business development. "Thanks to our 24-inch TracPhone V7 and mini-VSAT Broadband, we offer something that no other VSAT provider can match - a completely integrated hardware, network, and service solution. We are thrilled to expand our service and offer this unique and proven solution to the vital Asian maritime market." KVH and SP-JSAT are also pursuing hardware and broadband airtime sales in the Asia-Pacific maritime market with SP-JSAT granted exclusive rights for sales to Japanese-flagged and Japanese-owned vessels. In addition, SP-JSAT will provide service coverage in the Indian Ocean in early 2010. The addition of Asian service is the latest step in the KVH and ViaSat joint effort to field a global Ku-band broadband network for maritime vessels, as well as ViaSat's Yonder mobile network for in-flight broadband to business and commercial aircraft. Together, KVH and ViaSat are already offering voice service and broadband data services as fast as 512 Kbps (upload) and 2 Mbps (download) at fixed monthly rates to mariners throughout North America, the Caribbean, the North Atlantic, Europe, the Northern Pacific, and the Persian Gulf. KVH recently announced that it had sold more than 500 TracPhone V7 systems worldwide and that testing was underway for the addition of mini-VSAT Broadband service around Australia and New Zealand. KVH Industries and its wholly owned subsidiary KVH Europe are providers of in-motion satellite TV and communications systems, having designed, manufactured, and sold more than 150,000 mobile satellite antennas for applications on vessels, vehicles, and aircraft. ((Comments on this story may be sent to [email protected])) |