(MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – AUGUST 6, 2008) — KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI) has hired Mr. Brent Bruun as its new Vice President for Business Development. Mr. Bruun, formerly of SES AMERICOM, is expected to play a key role in KVH’s planned worldwide rollout of the mini-VSAT Broadbandsm satellite communications service. Expansion will provide service coverage in new regions, supporting leisure, commercial, and government vessels while offering opportunities to strengthen KVH’s growing satellite communications products and airtime services revenue streams.
“While at SES AMERICOM, I had the opportunity to collaborate with KVH during the initial launch of the groundbreaking mini-VSAT service and was very impressed with the way they do business. Now, I’m thrilled to be a part of the KVH team,” commented Mr. Bruun. “The TracPhone® V7 and mini-VSAT Broadband service are becoming a vital part of the marketplace, and I look forward to helping guide the global expansion of the service. We have a tremendous opportunity to offer affordable broadband communications within the maritime market while also generating airtime revenue from related aeronautical applications.”
In his previous position as Senior Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for SES AMERICOM, Mr. Bruun concentrated on global mobile broadband opportunities with particular emphasis on the maritime and aeronautical markets, experience that will be invaluable as he assumes his new role at KVH. His most recent experience is complemented by the diversified knowledge he has gained throughout his career at KPMG, General Electric, and SES AMERICOM in general management, finance, accounting, operations, sales, and business development. He earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Alfred University and is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA).
Mr. Bruun will help lead an expansion effort that will include acquisition of satellite capacity from satellite operators as well as the purchase of new regional satellite hubs for the global rollout of KVH’s mini-VSAT Broadband service. Together with the compact, 24″ TracPhone V7 antenna, the service already offers regional Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone service and Internet access as fast as 512 Kbps (upload) and 2 Mbps (download) to mariners throughout North America, the Caribbean, the North Atlantic, and Europe.
“Brent is a valuable addition to our development team, and the expertise he brings with him will help us to successfully and efficiently expand our mini-VSAT Broadband coverage worldwide and into new markets. As we do so, KVH will be able to offer leisure, commercial, and government vessels around the globe a rugged, powerful satellite communications technology that brings significant advantages over traditional VSAT in size, data speed, and airtime costs, while still being compact and practical enough for smaller vessels,” explained Martin Kits van Heyningen, KVH’s Chief Executive Officer.
