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Feature 5 | COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS


Like Iridium, Globalstar also offers


a fixed terminal for permanent or semi-permanent installation on larger marine vessels. Thuraya coverage is more Middle East centred, although extending to nearly 120 countries in Africa plus parts of Europe and Africa. Thuraya offers a dual-mode phone, the second mode being the Global System for Mobile Communications. GSM is the preferred phone protocol in Europe and elsewhere whereas CDMA is USA-dominated. Data capacity of satphones can be


increased by using signal compression techniques. G Comm Mail, for instance, compresses GSM and the third-generation General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) protocol signals to speed up e-mail data, thus reducing costs. Not to be outdone in basic low-cost


voice and data services, Inmarsat last year launched its FleetPhone compact fixed phone for smaller ships and boats. Used with a light omni-directional antenna above deck, FleetPhone is said to “meet the needs of those wanting an affordable, low-maintenance phone service backed by Inmarsat’s proven network”. Initial coverage is in the Asia-Pacific region. Earlier Mini M, Inmarsat C, Inmarsat D and Fleet 33 narrow-band solutions are viable alternatives.


Own-phone Ideally, seafarers would like to simply continue using their own mobile phones when at sea. Recent developments using Inmarsat and VSAT make this possible. Calls generated on the ship are


channelled through one or more onboard base stations, analogous to phone radio masts ashore, via a satellite link to a gateway on land which then routes the signals to their individual destinations using the appropriate terrestrial networks. Initially, these solutions are benefiting crew and passengers on sizeable ships but migration to smaller vessels can be expected over time. Current call costs compare with high-end roaming rates, typically at £1.30/minute or more for voice calls and so are not cheap, but the price has to reflect the costs of the satellite link plus some mark-up for the ship operator. Companies providing solutions include Marine Communications Partners AS


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(MCP), SeaMobile Enterprises, Navitas Telecom and Blue Ocean Wireless (BOW). MCP aims to provide cost-effective GSM and CDMA communications via its CellatSea™ plus service and roaming agreements with cellular operators throughout the world. Early this year MCP won a significant contract to install and operate the cellular networks on the fleets of Princess Cruises, Cunard and P&O Cruises Australia, enabling passengers and crew on 21 ships to make calls using their own mobile phones just as they do ashore. Calls are billed in the normal way via the normal service providers. SeaMobile Enterprises’ Ocean Call


wireless service exploits Ku-band/VSAT. Ocean Call serves the vessels of AIDA Cruises, Holland America Line among others. The system’s proprietary IP-based software enables GSM, CDMA and third-generation phones operating on GPRS to work via the SeaMobile network. The company has further exploited the broadband capability of VSAT by launching its WAVE entertainment network, enabling it to deliver 40 cached TV channels to passenger cabins. Navitas Telecom, part of


the Jersey


Telecom Group, says its IP-based system is compatible with all VSAT terminals, while the company is also investigating the use of Inmarsat for the merchant marine sector. Navitas reports positive comments so far from clients including Star Cruises, Birka Cruises, Lewis Cruises, Sandlines, Tallink and Thomson Celebration. Irish company BOW,


teamed with Stratos


Global Communications, exploits the Inmarsat platform to enable subscribers to use their own mobile phones for voice and text messaging. The system utilises an on-board picocell gateway and two Inmarsat Fleet 33 terminals, upgradable to FleetBroadband. As Chief Executive Officer Robert


Johnson, an ex-Inmarsat executive, told delegates at 2007’s NorShipping conference: “Crew calling is now widely accepted in merchant maritime circles. However, it is still cumbersome as three quarters of all crew calling facilities are located on the bridge or in other officer areas. In many cases, an officer stands over the crewman with a stopwatch as he makes his call. There is no privacy.


SAILOR MiniC, part of the Inmarsat Mini-C product range.


Our system allows crew to use their own GSM handsets from the privacy of their own quarters.” The latest vessel to receive the BOW


system is Happy Bird, owned by a company in the Othello Shipping Company group and managed by Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement. Happy Bird’s BOW GSM system was installed by maritime communications


services company Telaccount Overseas Ltd.


Next evolution Now that the possibilities for maritime communication are a quantum leap ahead of anything that was available even a few years ago, it is tempting to predict what the next evolutions might be. Will commercial sectors, including marine, start to import software configured radio and frequency agility techniques from the military sector as pressure on scarce spectrum increases? It is a fair bet that satellite payloads will become more broadband capable, supporting still higher standards of mobile connectivity and Internet access, but will we see, for instance, HDTV in every cabin and will seafarers everywhere be able to carry on using their mobile phones seamlessly between land and sea? Perhaps, more prosaically, the best hope


for seafarers and ship owners alike is that technology will be used to drastically bring down the costs of mobile communications so that it becomes a utility that can be afforded for every seagoing vessel. SBI


Ship & Boat International November/December 2008


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