MN 100: KVH Industries, Inc.
50 Enterprise Center
Middletown, RI 02842
Tel: (401) 851-3824
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.kvh.com
President & CEO: Martin Kits van Heyningen
The Company:
KVH Industries is a manufacturer of solutions that provide global high-speed Internet, television, and voice services via satellite to mobile users at sea and on land. These solutions include the mini-VSAT Broadband network, TracPhone satellite communications antenna systems, and TracVision satellite television antenna systems. KVH is based in Middletown, RI, with research, development, and manufacturing operations in Middletown, RI, and Tinley Park, IL. KVH’s mission is to connect in-motion customers, which include commercial and recreational vessels of all sizes around the world, with the same digital services they rely on in their homes and offices.
The Case:
KVH Industries, Inc., is an innovator and provider of broadband connectivity and satellite TV antenna systems for vessels around the world. KVH has manufactured more than 190,000 mobile satellite antennas, and its mini-VSAT Broadband service is the market share leader in maritime VSAT. KVH recently introduced IP-MobileCast, a content delivery service utilizing multicasting technology to meet the rapidly rising demand for news, entertainment, and operations content at sea. The KVH Media Group is the maritime industry’s leading provider of commercially licensed news, sports, music, and movies, and KVH’s Videotel is a leader in maritime e-Learning. As an innovator in satellite antenna technology, KVH also holds numerous patents for its products. A recent patent was received for its TracVision HD11 polarization device, and its TracVision TV3 marine antenna holds several design patents. KVH’s share of the industry’s 11,000 activated maritime VSAT terminals is 26%, up from 16% two years ago, and double that of its next closest competitor.
The Product Line:
KVH’s extensive array of satellite communications and TV antenna systems for in-motion vessels includes the TracPhone satellite communications antenna hardware. The advanced TracPhone V-IP antenna systems, designed and optimized by KVH for the mini-VSAT Broadband service, include the TracPhone V11-IP, a 1.1 meter diameter, dual-mode C/Ku-band antenna for global VSAT connectivity; the TracPhone V7-IP, a 60 cm diameter enterprise-grade antenna for Ku-band service worldwide; and the TracPhone V3-IP, a 37 cm diameter Ku-band antenna that is the world’s most compact maritime VSAT antenna. All three TracPhone V-IP systems include the Integrated CommBox Modem (ICM), a streamlined belowdecks unit that replaces the need for a rack full of components and integrates all antenna control, onboard network management, and modem functions in one small box. KVH’s TracVision products are fully stabilized marine satellite television antenna systems designed to provide superior performance, including HDTV, for worldwide satellite TV entertainment at sea and for high-definition service worldwide. Beyond this, the IP-MobileCast service delivers large amounts of content to many ships at once, overcoming the prohibitively high satellite communications costs. The service enables seafarers in the middle of the ocean to have affordable access to daily digital newspapers, television news, sports updates, music, and movies. The service also provides operational content such as electronic chart updates, high-resolution weather data, and e-Learning maritime training.
(As published in the August 2014 edition of Marine News - http://magazines.marinelink.com/Magazines/MaritimeNews)
