KVH Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq: KVHI), announced a greatly expanded relationship with Starlink through a bulk data distribution agreement with Starlink. The new agreement offers KVH increased flexibility in the development and sales of custom, cost-effective airtime plans using Starlink’s mobile priority service. Under the agreement, KVH prepaid for access to a large block of Starlink data at favorable rates over a period of more than a year. In addition, KVH has added the Starlink Standard flat-panel terminals to its product offering alongside the Flat High Performance maritime terminal.
“We are very excited to expand our Starlink portfolio, both with new hardware and the potential to offer custom data plans for marine applications,” says Brent C. Bruun, KVH’s chief executive officer. “Starlink is one of the fastest growing products in company history, as we almost doubled antenna shipments and activations in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the fourth quarter of 2023. Mariners are turning to KVH as they recognize the benefits we offer, both as an expert in Starlink data plans, activations, installation, and support as well as our 24/7/365 live airtime and technical support.”
KVH’s expanded portfolio of Starlink terminals and data services are supplemented by KVH’s suite of value-added services that provide end users with seamless monitoring and control over their Starlink service. KVH also integrated Starlink with other broadband services – both low earth and geostationary – along with terrestrial 5G services to create a global, seamless communications network intended to provide the most efficient and cost-effective communications solution in the marine industry.
“Our customers’ interest in Starlink continues to rise due to its reliably high speeds, low latency, and affordable data. However, some commercial and leisure marine users also need to manage their network, data, and users in ways not currently supported by the native tools available,” Bruun explains. “That is why we are also pleased to offer our CommBox™ Edge Communications Gateway with an integrated Starlink configuration. CommBox Edge delivers advanced network and bandwidth management tools that are affordable and integrate with Starlink seamlessly. As a result, we can support the increasing demand for data for operations, IoT, and crew wellbeing, while enabling fleet managers to have very precise control over how their data is being used, who is using it, on what applications, and over which networks.”
