KVH Reflects on Five Years of Maritime Connectivity as a Service

For decades, the only way to bring global satellite communications onboard a commercial vessel was with a CAPEX-intensive equipment purchase or a long-term lease, inhibiting fleet managers’ ability to adapt to varied operational needs. That changed five years ago when KVH introduced AgilePlans Connectivity as a Service, an innovative, all-inclusive communications subscription service.

“We set out to remove the CAPEX barrier and enable accelerated deployment of communications systems aboard vessels around the world,” says Mark Woodhead, KVH executive vice president of mobile connectivity. “As we celebrate AgilePlans’ fifth birthday, we believe that we are achieving that goal.”

“Thousands of vessels now rely on AgilePlans and its all-inclusive subscription for high-bandwidth, affordable connectivity for operations and crew, all carried on our worldwide network of high-throughput satellites (HTS) from our partner, Intelsat. And while maritime connectivity aggregators have tried to mimic AgilePlans, no other provider offers the same compelling package of integrated hardware and airtime blended with crew wellbeing and operations content, free shipping and installation, zero maintenance costs, and more. In addition, we’ll soon be adding SPORTSlink™ Stats, an innovative new real-time statistics feature for major sports, as a no-cost benefit for crew wellbeing via AgilePlans.”

A key to AgilePlans’ appeal for fleets and shipmanagers is the flexibility it offers with a simple monthly subscription, no commitment, and the ability to deploy systems rapidly to meet changing operational needs.

“For us, it is very important to work with a company that is able to provide the ease and flexibility of paying monthly without any commitment worries,” Holger Börchers, IT manager for Briese Schiffahrt, recently explained after the shipmanager selected AgilePlans for use aboard more than 35 vessels. “It shows that KVH understands the commercial maritime market and the fact that fleet sizes change.” He adds: “KVH AgilePlans provides full coverage of all fees in one price, and we have found working with KVH to be seamless.”

The fast, reliable VSAT connectivity that AgilePlans delivers is also valued for IoT connectivity by fleets who are seeing the cost benefits of real-time data for IoT/remote support applications such as remote equipment monitoring, remote tech support, vessel tracking, voyage planning, videoconferencing, and more. These applications are supported using the simultaneous high-speed and unlimited use channels offered by the 60 cm and 1 m KVH TracPhone HTS-series terminals available as part of an AgilePlans subscription.

KVH’s HTS network utilizes Intelsat’s FlexMaritime service to deliver global multi-layered coverage, enabling vessels to see multiple HTS and wide beam satellites for maximum availability of broadband service.