Editing Very-small-aperture terminal (section)

=== Technology ===

Initially, stabilized satellite antennas were used on ships for reception of television signals. One of the first companies to manufacture stabilized VSAT antennas was SeaTel of [[Concord, California|Concord]], [[California]], which launched its first stabilized antenna in 1978. SeaTel dominates the supply of two-way VSAT stabilised antenna systems to the marine industry with almost 72% of the market in 2007 compared to Orbit's 17.6%.<ref name="Uy79P">[http://www.comsys.co.uk/vm1e_mn.htm The Comsys Maritime VSAT Report] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523033524/http://www.comsys.co.uk/vm1e_mn.htm |date=May 23, 2010}}</ref> Initially, maritime VSAT was using [[single channel per carrier]] technology, which suited large-volume users like oil drilling rigs and [[oil platforms]] and large fleets of ships from one shipowner sailing within one or few [[Footprint (satellite)|satellite footprints]]. This changed when the company {{Proper name|iDirect}} launched its IP-based [[time-division multiple access]] technology that dynamically allocated bandwidth to each ship for shared bandwidth, lowering the entry-level cost for getting maritime VSAT installed, which turned out to be of key importance to small to mid-sized fleets, and thus to the market acceptance of VSAT.