Can Bandwidth Supply Keep up with Maritime Demand?

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Bougard Michel

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Jul 28, 2016, 4:21:13 AM7/28/16
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QSP.

Can Bandwidth Supply Keep up with Maritime Demand?

By Chris Insall

In the next few years, demand for bandwidth on the high seas will grow, in no small part due to technology that is making operations more efficient and keeping crews and passengers healthy, happy and connected. Just a few years ago, a cruise-going family might have brought a single laptop computer and maybe a cell phone aboard. Today, cruise companies find that the average family shows up with 10 connected devices. And within the commercial maritime sector: crew members, away at sea for months at a time, are hungry for a robust connectivity experience to stay in touch with family and friends.

As our survey of maritime operators with the research firm Futurenautics found, in the next two to three years, there will be a 60 percent increase in ship-to-shore traffic. This demand for satellite bandwidth is being driven by a number of factors:

     •The development of VSAT antennas for ships has led to a shift away from traditional L-band connections and to higher-throughput Ku- and Ka-band satellite services. The same Futurenautics survey found that 57 percent of shipping companies have VSAT solutions fitted on their vessels.

     •When there is a VSAT solution on board, it always becomes the primary means of communication, with the slower L-band used as a backup.

     •Crews are now demanding high-speed Internet connections. In the same survey, 72 percent of crew members said the level of connectivity provided on board is a factor in choosing to work for a ship operator.

     •And crews want high-speed connections, with 73 percent saying that the minimum acceptable connection speed for a crew Internet service is 512Kbps.

     •Ship operators are increasingly investing in big data analytics to optimize operational efficiencies and cut costs.

     •In the future, a network of sensors built into the engines and other operating systems of new-build vessels will enable ship owners to capture a range of information (such as Voyage Data Recorder feeds) as well as on-board equipment and cargo status data – requiring even more bandwidth.

Some have suggested that competition from 4G cellular, microwave connections, “internet balloons” and other technologies that support near-shore activities would eat into the maritime business of satellite operators. 

At Intelsat, we have experienced the opposite. The more these alternative technologies are deployed, the more end users exploit the growing range of IP technology. Then, when a vessel or rig moves out of range of these on-shore services, the operator has to support up to demand they had to before – and satellite satiates the need. When it comes to maritime communications, at Intelsat, our primary goal is to provide our customers and their end users at sea with seamless bandwidth throughout their passage, wherever they may be. 

To that end, our Intelsat EpicNG constellation and associated network is fully compatible with existing Ku-band hardware, networks and terrestrial technology, and is capable of handling increases and spikes in bandwidth demand as a matter of course. So, can bandwidth supply keep up with all this maritime demand? We certainly think so.


The Author
Chris Insall’s responsibilities include complete lifecycle support of Intelsat’s maritime solutions. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the telecommunications industry.


(As published in the July 2016 edition of Maritime Reporter & Engineering News)

RADIO OFFICERS

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Jul 28, 2016, 6:50:16 AM7/28/16
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If crew play with Hi-Phones like people at shore maybe they do not work HI!
Much better the old radiotelegramm or SSB phone call.
I really hope a big solar flare switching back the humanity to things really
necessary...to much noise and confusion today with the EVIL Technology.
73's
Alfredo happy to be a "Matusalem"
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Roy Jones

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Jul 28, 2016, 7:01:53 AM7/28/16
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Well said Alfredo, when I was R/O on oil rigs, the hassle of cell phones, laptop computers on board for sometimes 150 + crew members was mind bending, everyone wanted more speed, more coverage etc...... VSAT worked to a frazzle and the R/O's having to keep cell phones locked up was enough to make one turn to pulling the big switch! 
73,s es 77
 
Roy VK6RR ex ZL1ARV, VK6RA,G3MTC fists# 14193


From: RADIO OFFICERS <radio...@gmail.com>
To: radio-o...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Thursday, 28 July 2016 6:50 PM
Subject: Re: [Radio Officers, &c] Can Bandwidth Supply Keep up with Maritime Demand?

Message has been deleted

MIKE ZBROZEK

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Aug 5, 2016, 10:28:36 PM8/5/16
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Rich
 
When did fone via inmarisat drop to $4/min...when I sailed it was $10/min from 1980-96.
Tlx was $4/min at 66 baud.
 
 
73
Mike K8XF
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Rich
Sent: Friday, August 05, 2016 6:40 PM
Subject: [Radio Officers, &c] Re: Can Bandwidth Supply Keep up with Maritime Demand?

CQ

Maybe I'm the strange one here, but one of the things I liked about going to sea was getting away from all the media ashore.  It seems today that mariners demand all the communications ability of home on the ship.

Is it really necessary?  Seems to me that being able to e-mail you wife several times per day would make you MORE homesick, not LESS. Are these modern seamen's families so helpless that they can't run their daily affairs without consulting their significant-other at sea?

I remember crew communications when I was sailing.  Most of it took place in-port.  It was rare and only for a good reason that a crew member would communicate off the ship at sea. 

One company I worked for allowed officer's spouses to sail on U.S. coast-wise voyages.  The Mate's wife wanted to talk to her friend to catch up on the latest gossip...  via Marisat!  The Captain said it would be OK, but the call had to be billed to the Mate's credit card.  As R/O, I had to be present during the call.  For well over an hour, this woman chatted about the silliest, most mundane things you could imagine... at $4.00 per minute!  The cost of the call came to over $400.00 and that was over 20 years ago!  To me, this is a waste of money and a satellite telephone channel.

One thing is certain and that is the people today are spoiled, spoiled, spoiled!  

I once got into a discussion with some engineers via Linked-In.  They were complaining about the cost of modern maritime communications.  I had to tell them they had nothing to complain about.  They were shocked to hear that I had sent messages via Morse code that were thousands of words long, at a rate of .51 per word!  I asked them, "How would you like to pay $500.00 for a message that you can send via Inmarsat-C for a few dollars?

They really didn't know the history of it.  They were new engineers, not experienced maritime radio officers.  Once they understood they agreed they had no serious complaint.

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MIKE ZBROZEK

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Aug 6, 2016, 9:14:41 AM8/6/16
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OK Rich -
 
I wonder since its 2016 if the price is still $10 for fone and $4 for tlx?
 
73
Mike K8XF
 
 
----- Original Message -----
From: Rich
Sent: Saturday, August 06, 2016 12:14 AM
Subject: Re: [Radio Officers, &c] Re: Can Bandwidth Supply Keep up with Maritime Demand?

Hi Mike,

You are absolutely right!  I was thinking telex! Thanks for jogging my memory.

73,
RM

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kilobravo

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Aug 6, 2016, 9:20:15 AM8/6/16
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FleetBroadband Service Plans with Ground Control



Here is the cost structure for a large ship or small if you have the money to put one on your yacht.

The terminals are cheap and you can put them on in a few hours antenna included..

Incoming voice is free.. Its all about data nowadays,  they want to be able to download 

like any office, with this system it is just another company office only it is mobile…

73

KB
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Monthly Plan Voice SMS Overage Monthly Cost
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250 Megabytes
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1 Gigabyte
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4 Gigabytes
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