Coast Guard Increases KVH Mini-VSAT Installation to More than 100 Vessels

By Michael Guta
TMCnet Contributing Writer

The United Sates Coast Guard (USCG) was created in 1790, and it is the longest continuous seagoing service in the country. With a total of more than 90,000 active duty, reservists, auxiliarists and civilian employees, it is one of the largest naval forces in the world. The USGC carries out many functions in the US and international waters, and as its motto implies Semper Paratus (Always Ready), they have to be ready for virtually anything. In order to coordinate all of its assets and use them effectively, it uses the best communications solutions in the world. KVH Industries, manufacturer of solutions that provide global high-speed Internet, television, and voice services via satellite to mobile users at sea and on land, has been supplying the USCG next-generation satellite communications since 2010.

The company has supplied 105 USCG vessels with its TracPhone V7 system as part of a 10 year contract for hardware, airtime, and support. This includes KVH (News - Alert)'s mini-VSAT Broadband service, which has provided 29.2 terabytes of data and more than 835,000 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) minutes.

The KVH technology is deployed on cutters serving territories in the US and overseas including Guam, the Persian Gulf and Puerto Rico with support on a range of platforms. With this technology, service personnel are able to process information much faster than previous systems. This allows the USCG to send and receive data from vessel to shore with lower latency.

The KVH platform is designed to withstand the rugged environment of the high seas 24/7 with durability and reliability, which is why the USCG keeps installing this technology on its cutters. The Coast Guard's Telecommunications and Information Systems Command (TISCOM) announced KVH would be providing its Small Cutter Connectivity (SCC) Ku-band System and Air Time Support Services solution in September 2010 as part of a $42 million contract.

Some of the features TracPhone V7 system provides include:

• Always-on broadband connectivity and fully integrated network management
• Breakthrough new Integrated CommBox Modem (ICM) includes IP-enabled antenna control unit, built-in CommBox Network Manager, ArcLight spread spectrum modem, Voice over IP (VoIP), Ethernet switch, and Wi-Fi capabilities – all in one 2U high belowdecks unit, for reliability, ease of use, and simplified onboard networking
• No. 1 maritime VSAT network, mini-VSAT Broadband, now even better – with ArcLight’s new Variable Coding, Spreading, and Modulation (VCSM) technology for double the network capacity
• Data rates as fast as 1 Mbps ship-to-shore uploads, and 2 Mbps shore-to-ship downloads
• Two integrated voice lines optimized for use with satellite services with expansion capability for up to nine concurrent voice lines
• Affordable airtime rates with choice of unrestricted, fixed rate, seasonal, or per-megabyte plans
• Supports upcoming IP-MobileCast service – multicasting delivery of movies, news, sports clips, and more directly to subscribing vessels

"In the face of rapidly expanding data communications requirements, including real-time use of biometric technology, homeland security efforts, and extended worldwide operations, the U.S. Coast Guard needed a global communications solution robust enough to support these demands and rugged enough for even the most demanding maritime conditions," said Martin Kits van Heyningen, KVH's chief executive officer.

Edited by Ryan Sartor