Maritime VSAT Provider KVH Upgrades Network

KVH Industries, Inc. provides 60% more capacity for EMEA region of mini-VSAT broadband network.

The company has just completed a major upgrade to the mini-VSAT Broadbandsm network that will provide customers in Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa (EMEA) with a 60% increase in satellite capacity. The added capacity was provided by consolidating bandwidth covering two separate regions into one powerful unified beam, and by implementing Variable Coding, Spreading, and Modulation (VCSM) technology provided by ViaSat, Inc., (Nasdaq:VSAT ), KVH's partner in the mini-VSAT Broadband network.

"We actively monitor and manage our mini-VSAT Broadband network to ensure we are delivering the speeds and quality of service our customers expect," explained Marc Edwards, KVH's director of network operations. "Rapid growth of our customer base, which now includes well over 2,500 systems in the field, resulted in increased utilization of the network during peak periods in the EMEA region. We reconfigured our satellite coverage to more effectively serve this region with a single beam, which allows the ViaSat ArcLight® spread spectrum technology used in our network to more efficiently carry the traffic. At the same time we implemented VCSM, and the combination of changes increased our network capacity by 60% overall in the EMEA region."

VCSM will be introduced throughout the remainder of the mini-VSAT Broadband network in coming months. For the new regions upgraded with VCSM, the mini-VSAT Broadband network capacity is anticipated to provide a 60% increase over what is currently delivered with the existing transmission technology.

With more than 2,500 onboard terminals sold, mini-VSAT Broadband is the world's fastest growing, most popular maritime VSAT solution, according to three independent industry research reports published in 2012 by Euroconsult, NSR, and Comsys.