Content delivery service to offer economical
transmission of large files including electronic charts, weather
forecasts, training videos, news, sports, IPTV, IP-radio, and
premium movies
KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq:KVHI) today debuted its new
IP-MobileCast™ content delivery service for its market-leading
mini-VSAT Broadbandsm satellite network at the international
Nor-Shipping show in Oslo, Norway. The IP-MobileCast service solves
an important problem for maritime customers by providing an
affordable way to receive large files through satellite links to
their ships. These links are designed to allow electronic charts,
detailed weather forecasts, e-learning materials, live news and
sports clips, movies, IPTV, and IP-radio to be economically
delivered to ships at sea. The new service is expected to be
available later this year and will take advantage of additional
capacity, delivering content "over the top" of the mini-VSAT
Broadband network in a separate data stream without impacting
customers' contracted data speeds or airtime rate plans.
"Today, large files for things such as electronic chart database
updates and movies are usually recorded on DVDs that are then
physically shipped to the vessel and manually loaded onto onboard
networks, a process that is slow, unreliable, and expensive,"
explains Brent Bruun, Executive Vice President of KVH's Mobile
Broadband Group. "Transmitting these large files over existing
satellite services on a one-to-one basis is technically possible,
but usually is either prohibitively expensive or even difficult due
to service providers blocking certain file protocols to protect
access to shared satellite network capacity. Our IP-MobileCast
service will make delivering these large files fast, reliable, and
affordable, enabling automatic over-the-air delivery of a new
generation of content that is needed to enhance navigation, improve
operations, and maintain crew morale."
KVH's IP-MobileCast service is designed to be an end-to-end
solution that will use KVH's CommBox™ Ship/Shore Network Manager to
efficiently transmit content over the mini-VSAT Broadband network.
KVH's new TracPhone® V3-IP, V7-IP, and V11-IP all use the new
Integrated CommBox Modem (ICM), which enables the systems to
receive and decode multicast content. KVH also offers a stand-alone
CommBox server for owners of legacy systems, making the
IP-MobileCast service available to all mini-VSAT Broadband
subscribers. User devices that may access the multicast data stored
on the onboard server include ECDIS navigation systems, desktop,
laptop, and tablet computers, smartphones, smart TVs, and any other
IP-enabled device.
The IP-MobileCast service will use proprietary software designed
to provide advanced error correction, compression, and validation
of data integrity throughout the transmission from shore to ship
for unparalleled reliability and efficiency. Shoreside servers
encode files for transmission and queue them for multicast delivery
"over the top" of the mini-VSAT Broadband network. The
IP-MobileCast service's patented Forward Error Correction (FEC)
technology will help ensure that the CommBox servers on ships
receive each file in perfect condition the first time it is
transmitted. The unique FEC algorithms deliver the highest level of
file reliability by accommodating intermittent non-continuous
transmission, which might happen when large transmissions are
interrupted by prioritized network traffic or in very poor weather
conditions.
The file is transmitted once, and is received by every vessel in
the satellite footprint. If the vessel has subscribed to that
particular content, the data is stored and decoded using rights
management software on the CommBox, and then made available on the
onboard server. Normal mini-VSAT Broadband ship-to-shore and
shore-to-ship transmissions are prioritized over the IP-MobileCast
service and are completely unaffected in terms of speed or added
airtime cost.
"Our new IP-MobileCast service is one of four major 2013
initiatives designed to make mini-VSAT Broadband the maritime
industry's premier content delivery platform," said Mr. Bruun.
"Today we also announced our new TracPhone V-IP series onboard
terminals for the mini-VSAT Broadband service. These systems
include the new Integrated CommBox Modem (ICM), so each one has the
capability to receive the new IP-MobileCast service. We doubled our
network capacity over the past several months with the
implementation of Variable Coding, Spreading, and Modulation (VCSM)
technology, and we expect to complete another major capacity
increase later this year to stay ahead of the demands of our
growing customer base. Finally, we recently announced the
acquisition of Headland Media, the industry's leading provider of
commercially-approved news, sports, and entertainment content, and
training videos, so we already have both the delivery mechanism and
much of the premium content our customers demand."
Additional information about KVH's new IP-MobileCast service and
the mini-VSAT Broadband network is available at
www.minivsat.com/vip. Information about Headland Media news,
sports, entertainment, and training content is available at
www.headlandmedia.com.
About KVH Industries, Inc.
KVH Industries is a leading manufacturer of solutions that
provide global high-speed Internet, television, and voice services
via satellite to mobile users at sea, on land, and in the air.
KVH's Headland Media group is the maritime industry's leading
provider of rights-approved news, sports, music, and movies, as
well as the Walport Training video series. KVH is based in
Middletown, RI, with facilities in Illinois, Denmark, Norway, the
UK, Singapore, the Philippines, India, and Japan.
This press release contains forward-looking statements that
involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements
include, for example, statements regarding the timing and
occurrence of new service rollout plans, the functionality,
characteristics, quality, cost and performance of KVH products and
technology, as well as customer demand, preferences, requirements,
and expectations. The actual results could differ materially from
those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that
might cause such differences include, among others, uncertainties
regarding the time needed to complete 2013 initiatives, potential
unanticipated technical or legal impediments, unanticipated costs
and KVH's dependence on the availability of third-party satellites
and services to support broadcasts to mobile antennas. These and
other risk factors are discussed in more detail in KVH's most
recent Form 10-Q filed with the SEC. KVH does not assume any
obligation to update its forward-looking statements to reflect new
information or developments.
KVH Industries, Inc., has used, registered, or applied to
register its trademarks in the USA and other countries around the
world, including the following marks: KVH, KVH logo, TracPhone,
IP-MobileCast, CommBox, mini-VSAT Broadband and the mini-VSAT
Broadband logo, and the banded, dome-shaped housing of its
satellite antennas. Other trademarks are the property of their
respective companies.
CONTACT: KVH Industries, Inc.
Nicole Mongillo
+1 401-847-3327
nmongillo@kvh.com
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