KVH Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: KVHI) has entered into an agreement that will enable the MVS Group, one of the world’s largest distributors of mobile satellite services, to offer KVH’s mini-VSAT Broadband service and TracPhone V-series satellite communications systems to its global customer base. The agreement will enable MVS Group to bundle KVH’s mini-VSAT Broadband service within its state-of-the-art billing and airtime management system and full suite of value-added services to provide one-stop shopping for its global customer base.
“The MVS Group is a market leader that has won a solid following of loyal customers throughout the world by providing outstanding customer support and offering satellite services enhanced with its comprehensive, value-added services,” said Brent Bruun, KVH’s senior vice president of global sales and business development. “We’re delighted to enter into this cooperation to offer its customers next-generation VSAT services delivered by our mini-VSAT Broadband network and our award-winning TracPhone V-series product line.”
The MVS Group was founded in 1995, focusing on offering customers with mobile applications access to L-band MSS services on land, at sea, or in the air. Winning customers by providing excellent support, high quality billing systems, and a full range of value-added services, MVS Group grew to become a leader in the mobile satellite communications market, and is currently the world’s third largest Inmarsat Distribution Partner as well as a global Iridium Service Provider. From its corporate headquarters in the United States, and regional offices in Cyprus, Russia, and the Netherlands, MVS Group employees work closely with their customers to help them achieve their business objectives by leveraging satellite communications services.
“Broadband connectivity offshore is becoming an important requirement in the commercial maritime industry,” explains Deborah Deffaa, executive director of the MVS Group. “Our customers are asking for faster, more affordable satellite communications service to support their new applications, which are designed to save fuel, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance efficiency, and improve crew morale. KVH has developed a remarkable new maritime broadband network that takes advantage of advanced, spread spectrum technology to dramatically reduce the size and cost of the antennas needed to receive the service onboard the vessels, making it easier than ever before to deploy affordable broadband service at sea.”
With more than 2,000 onboard terminals sold, KVH’s mini-VSAT Broadband service is the most widely used maritime VSAT solution. The network uses ArcLight spread spectrum technology, which was developed by KVH’s technology partner, ViaSat, Inc., (Nasdaq: VSAT) specifically for mobile use. ArcLight is unique due to its fast speed, low latency, efficient reuse of satellite channels, and ability to support very small antennas that provide reliable service, even in poor weather conditions.
KVH manufactures three onboard antennas for the mini-VSAT Broadband network – the award-winning 24″ diameter TracPhone V7, the compact 14.5″ diameter TracPhone V3, which is the world’s smallest and most affordable maritime VSAT antenna, and soon, the new dual-mode TracPhone V11, which will provide coverage of 95% of the earth thanks to its ability to receive both C and Ku-band satellite signals from KVH’s global network. The mini-VSAT Broadband service equips vessels with the highest data rates available today with downloads as fast as 4 Mbps and uploads as fast as 1 Mbps, as well as Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone lines with optimized service and prioritization of applications.
