Kymeta has announced that the Kymeta™ u8 and Kymeta Connect™ are available for government and commercial purchase after November 30, 2020, unlocking the potential of broadband satellite connectivity and cellular networks to satisfy the overwhelming demand for communications on the move.
Kymeta’s next-generation solutions are built for mobility and designed to meet the needs of global defense agencies, government, first responders, and commercial customers. Kymeta’s products and services have been field deployed for three years and the demand for the Kymeta u8 presales has already exceeded expectations.
With the introduction of the Kymeta u8, the company has meaningfully increased antenna throughput and significantly reduced the total cost of ownership. Kymeta’s new products and services offer a breakthrough in performance, ease of use, and affordability, and it anticipates that these solutions will further enhance its position in both commercial and government markets, further increasing its lead over competitive offerings.
The launch of Kymeta’s next-generation solutions builds on the successful deployment of our beta program earlier this year to facilitate real-world testing. The testing demonstrated throughputs of over 45Mbps in land mobile environment with large scan-off angles of over 50 degrees, which is a remarkable achievement for such a low power (<150W) electronically steered antenna platform. The u8 was tested in regions around the world including North America, APAC, and Europe, in a variety of conditions confirming that the product can be operated with confidence even under the most trying scenarios.
The Kymeta u8 covers the full Ku-band and is designed to be LEO upgradeable. The u8 is available as an antenna, an ODU (with no modem), and a turnkey terminal with embedded satellite modem, cellular modem, and SD-WAN capabilities. The Kymeta terminals are easy to set up and they acquire service within minutes of being powered. Also coming soon is a transportable configuration called the u8 GO, which is ideal for rapid deployments. The u8 GO will enable safe transport with a hardened case for protection and provides a built-in car mount to support easy operations on the pause and on the move.
Combining the u8 with Kymeta’s hybrid satellite-cellular connectivity services, Kymeta Connect transforms the purchase and consumption of mobile data delivering a complete end-to-end solution with a best-in-industry customer experience. The all-inclusive hybrid satellite-cellular connectivity, global support, and network services package start at $999 per month.
Kymeta Connect is powered by a virtual architecture consisting of an operational stack that connects remote terminals to managed satellite and cellular services, integrates a state-of-the-art digital back office for service and subscription management, and includes an operations and care element to deliver an excellent customer experience. These services are augmented with a unique application called Access which simplifies the control, management, and monitoring of all hardware and connectivity solutions. The newly announced app is available for download through the Apple and Google Play stores. Today, Kymeta Access can be used on a tablet or through a web-based portal to interact with hardware, data, customer care, and subscription services.
Kymeta expects to further accelerate its new product development and commercialization of its next-generation solutions and looks forward to sharing more in 2021.
Executive Comments
“Government and military need the most reliable and seamless connectivity to safely fulfill their missions,” said Walter Berger, Kymeta President, and COO. “These men and women often go to the most remote or disaster-stricken areas of the world, and they need reliable communications to rescue lives, keep property safe, and complete missions. Our government, military, and commercial customers trust Kymeta solutions. The enhanced performance of the u8 is helping our customers make fast, easy, and reliable mission-critical communications on the move a reality.”
“My team works in some of the most densely populated, rugged, and steep forest terrain in the U.S.,” said Tim Dunfee, Deputy Forest Fire Chief, U.S. Forest Service. “There are places across our varied terrain that have been engulfed by fires and communications cell towers that have been destroyed, causing loss of all communications. When we tested Kymeta’s solutions, we could use FaceTime and make voice calls for the first time. We now have a Kymeta antenna installed on one of our vehicles and deploy it to every forest fire because we know it has reliable communications wherever it goes.”
Kymeta’s u8 Terminal Receives The FCC’s Blessing
Kymeta has announced that the FCC has granted blanket authorization for the operation of the company’s next-generation electronically steered, flat-panel, ESIM (Earth Station In Motion) platform, the Kymeta™ u8 terminal.
The authorization is a major milestone toward the release of the u8. In addition, Kymeta has received type approvals from several leading satellite service operators (SSO’s) that include Intelsat, Echostar, Hellasat, KTSat, and Telesat for use with Kymeta u8 terminal.
The u8 is the world’s only commercially available, electronically steered, flat-panel ESIM platform with no moving parts, built specifically for mobility and designed for the needs of DoD, government, first responder, and commercial customers.
Combining the u8 with Kymeta’s hybrid satellite-cellular connectivity services, Kymeta Connect™, transforms the purchase and consumption of mobile data with all-inclusive hardware, hybrid connectivity, global support, and network services in a monthly subscription. The u8 is available as an antenna, a terminal or in flyaway configurations.
The u8 covers the full Ku-band with improved efficiency and will be LEO upgradeable at a later time. The u8 offers a low-profile form factor with native DC power input for easy integration into mobile platforms, always-on connectivity, and cloud-enabled solutions. With a multi-WAN satellite and cellular configuration, the u8 terminal provides communications anywhere.
To date, Kymeta has deployed 25 beta units globally to facilitate real-world testing of the u8 terminal and Kymeta Connect connectivity services. The beta trial program kicked off last month with select partners and customers across the globe in preparation for the fourth-quarter launch. Additionally, Kymeta recently announced securing an approximate $85 million financing round, led by Bill Gates, to aggressively accelerate new product development and commercialization of their next-generation solutions, the Kymeta u8, and Kymeta Connect.
Executive Comments
“Receiving the FCC authorization, puts us one step closer to releasing our next-generation solutions into the market and at scale,” said Walter Berger, President, and COO, Kymeta. “We have the only hybrid technology that is part of a global land mobile ecosystem. The market needs a connectivity solution they can rely on and we are positioned well to be a driving force of what lies ahead for mobile communications.”
