60 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • SEPTEMBER 2014
demand and receive similar internet ac-
cess and options as they might enjoy on
land.
Meet IP-MobileCast
In mid-May 2014 KVH went ‘live’
with the new IP-MobileCast, a new
service designed to make it affordable
for mariners to receive a wide range of
content. While Dodez would not com-
ment on buy-in to date, he did note that
“We’re in the process of signing up sub-
scribers, and we have announced 4,000
VSAT terminals in the fi eld already who
all can receive this new service.”
IP-MobileCast and services like it
are designed to bring entertainment op-
tions onboard the ship that heretofore
could only be found on land. Onboard
treatment of the seafarer has come full
circle in recent years, driven by legisla-
tion such as MLC2006 but perhaps more
so by the basic need to attract and retain
talented mariners from an increasingly
shallow pool. KVH and Dodez believe
that services such as IP-MobileCast can
help to do that.
“When we look at it we look at it from
the customer perspective and we think
there is a big human resources require-
ment: the Crew Morale requirement in
the Maritime Labor Convention,” said
Dodez. “Previously for the crew we had
internet café and calling; now we’re
adding movies and TV, we’re adding
sports and we’re adding news and music
to round out the Crew Morale offering.
When we’re talking to the HR manager,
we have the solution for crew morale.”
The IP-MobileCast service utilizes
multicasting technology to deliver large
amounts of content to many ships at
once. With the new service content is
delivered over the top of the network so
there is no charge for the delivery, only
for the content itself; and the multicast-
ing transmission does not affect the ves-
sel’s mini-VSAT Broadband onboard
data speed. Also, the service ensures dig-
ital rights management (DRM) of copy-
righted material, such as Hollywood
movies and television programs; and the
content is delivered using forward error
correction to minimize burden on the
mini-VSAT Broadband network.
Content available via IP-MobileCast is
provided by KVH Media Group, a pro-
vider of commercially licensed news and
entertainment content to the maritime,
hotel, and retail industries.
While the connection and the content
are the critical component, KVH’s new
media server which was launched at
Posidonia 2014 adds brawn to the sys-
tem. The new media server, which re-
tails for $4995, has a terabyte drive to
start and is upgradable, has the power to
store all of the broadcast content, a mass
MARITIME COMMUNICATION
Jim Dodez,
SVP Marketing and
Strategic Planning,
KVH Industries, Inc.
KVH Middletown
Manufacturing
MR #9 (58-65).indd 60 9/3/2014 10:56:59 AM
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