46 www.satellite-evolution.com | May/June 2016
....Q&A Noah Chung, Director of KNS
Based in Korea, KNS is a well-established manufacturer of VSATantennas, equipment and parts for themaritime, military, oil and gas andfishing industries, among others. Itprovides Ka, Ku, C and X-band VSATantennas, as well as spare and optionalparts, in addition to Ku-band TVROantennas and spare parts.
Question: Can you provide anoverview of KNS’ business and howit has developed since its founding?Noah Chung: KNS has beenestablished for 15 years in the maritimeVSAT industry. We see ourselves as atechnology leader and have alwaysplaced a high priority on being at theforefront of cutting edge engineering inorder to develop the next generation inmaritime antennas. Once this newtechnology has been created and meetsall safety regulations, we then take it tothe next level and integrate it intomaritime VSAT functionality to improveour customers’ experience andefficiency.
The first project we worked on waswith the Korean Coast Guard, whichwas soon followed by a commercialbroadband satellite programme (CBSP)project for the US Navy. We have alsofocused on providing military VSAT. Ourbelief is that, if our antennas are secure,efficient and durable enough for themilitary, then they have all thefunctionality and secur ity for ourcustomers in other vertical markets.
KNS prides itself in providingexcellent customer service and support.We never underestimate how crucial‘always connected’ is to our customers.We are extremely customer centric, withstrict distribution channels, making sureour distributors make good margins,and that their customers receive firstclass service. KNS’s sales policy isdifferent to others in the market place;
it discourages direct selling, thusavoiding any marketing to the sameend-user.
We provide 24/7 support service,and quick turnaround time when anantenna goes down. We send outtechnicians within 48 hours of receivinga notification anywhere in the world, andwe make sure that our technicians arehighly trained so that they can repair aproblem immediately. KNS’s strongglobal distribution channel has meantthat the level of business has enabledresellers to provide exceptional servicefor their customers on an internationalbasis.
Question: Where does KNS see itselfin the antenna market? Whichindustries and regions comprise thecompany’s core customers, and howhas this changed over the years?Noah Chung: KNS sees itself as acustomer service-orientated manu-facturer that makes reliable products.We have seen too many unhappy end-users who did not have a goodexperience with tech support and spareparts from other companies.
Our core customers are located inthe USA, Europe, Russia andSoutheast Asia. They are from a widerange of industries, including oil andgas, OSVs, leisure, commercialshipping and commercial fishing. Ourmilitary business is also an essentialpart of our customer network.
Previously, KNS was focused onstandard Ku-band products, targetingglobal commercial shipping and leisuremarkets, which primarily focus on 1mand larger antennas. Since the demandfor connectivity has grown, however, wehave found that regional vessels thatrequire sub-metre antennas have alsoexpanded in number. The increasingdemand for sub-metre antennas hasstemmed from the oil and gas, OSVs,
fishing and inland cargo markets. Thesemarkets require a low total cost ofownership and reliable products thatrequire little or no maintenance. Wehave been able to supply VSATs tothese regional markets due to ourreliability and excellent customerservice, which has enabled us to growin the sub-metre category.
The shift in our business model andmarket has enabled KNS to double itsannual sales and increase the numberof VSATs per year. As the maritimeVSAT market has grown, so too has thenumber of antennas that wemanufacture.
Question: What are the currentchallenges faced by KNS, and howdoes the company continue toexpand in the face of fiercecompetition?Noah Chung: We consider ourselvesto be commercially competitive in themarket. Although we focus on morecomplex and military markets, ourtechnology and customer service hasenabled KNS to become one of theleading brands in the maritimecommunications industry.
I strongly believe that one of ourbiggest challenges was to develop andproduce a next-generation terminal thatis reliable, cost-efficient, simple to useand built to military standard. We haveovercome this challenge by developingthe MK3 platform, which has been agreat success and is widely-used by ourcustomers globally.
To continue to expand our marketpresence, KNS will be introducing a newMK4 platform later this year, which willhave all the features and benefits of theMK3, but will be dual-band. We have
In February 2016, KNS announced several new additions to itsSuperTrack family of antennas, including its first Ku-bandantenna for on-the-move (OTM) applications and the first dualKa/Ku-band communications-on-the-move (COTM) antenna.Amy Saunders spoke to Noah Chung, Director of KNS, to findout more about the company’s development, recent milestonesand outlook.
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48 www.satellite-evolution.com | May/June 2016
....Q&A Noah Chung, Director of KNS
been migrating the technology usedwith our dual-band COTM terminal tomaritime units. The MK4 platform willallow users to seamlessly andautomatically switch from Ku to Kawithout any manual modification. Thisis a very big advantage as, in our 15-year experience, we know that it isnearly impossible to climb a mast tophysically change parts of an antennawhile at sea.
The MK4 platform is very low profileand has the equivalent of a 1m antenna;the RF performance in both bandsallows platform operators to savesatellite capacity costs.
With this new platform, we are takingthe dual-band trend to the next level, toallow our customers to operate theircommunications equipment with easeand low maintenance. Aside frommaritime applications, I see a verystrong market for the MK4 in the UAVsector and military markets.
Question: In February 2016, KNSlaunched a new Ku-band antenna forOTM military applications. Can youtell us more about the developmentand testing process? How does itcompare to other products on themarket?Noah Chung: The OTM terminal willcome in multiple sizes and frequencybands such as X-band, Ku-band and
Ka-band. We started the developmentprocess knowing what militarycustomers require from an OTMterminal. Obviously the terminal needsto be able to survive and operate in theharshest environment and terrain.Through the military experience of ourengineers, we know how crucialcommunications are, and have focusedour development on satell ite re-acquisition. The antenna can re-track asatellite due to loss from a tunnel orblockage within seconds.
Testing is ongoing in accredited labsin Korea to ensure that the terminalmeets military standards. So far, we arevery impressed with the outcome; theterminal has exceeded our engineer’sexpectations. We are not onlyconducting tests in laboratories andsimulators, but have started to test onan actual vehicle in the deep mountainsides of Korea, where a vehicle may rolland pitch to unknown conditions, andchange direction instantly.
I believe that one of the major keyfeatures of our terminals, and whatdifferentiates them from other products,is the ease of use. We have spent a lotof time making a graphical userinterface (GUI) that anyone can use withminimal training.
Since operators constantly changein the military, it was crucial that wemade the GUI universal, and easy to
understand so that anyone can use itin the battlefield.
Question: With satellite capacitydemand by the maritime sectorexpected to grow by around 10percent/yr for the next few years, howwill this affect KNS’s business?Noah Chung: The 10 percent/yr growthwill allow our customers to providediverse applications to end-users. Ibelieve that the satellite capacity growthwill drive the cost of bandwidth andmake satellite communications moreaffordable. It will be our responsibilityas an antenna manufacturer to producelow cost and efficient terminals.
Question: With the launch ofinnovative new products, it looks likeKNS has some serious expansionplans for the coming years. Will therebe a focus on any particular regionsor industries?Noah Chung: Yes, like any globalbusiness, we definitely plan on growing.Although we started in the maritimesector, we feel that, with our technologyand experience, we are more thancapable of entering new markets. I planto expand KNS to become a worldwideSatcoms antenna manufacturer that, notonly focuses on technology, product andcustomer service, but also understandsour customer require- ments.
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