US Army orders SNAP VSAT satellite communications systems, support from TCS

TeleCommunication Systems Inc. announced that it received a funded order from the US Army for a batch of deployable satellite communications systems equipment and attached technical support services.

The Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) order comes from the U.S. Army Project Manager for the Warfighter Information Network - Tactical Commercial Satellite Terminal Program. The order is worth $7.3 million, and according to TCS, the funding will come from the Army's $5 billion World-Wide Satellite Systems contract vehicle.

According to Michael Bristol, TCS senior vice president and general manager of government solutions, "The U.S. armed forces benefit greatly from secure, easy-to-deploy, and reliable satellite communications systems. TCS' SNAP VSAT satellite systems equipment gives our fighting forces the communications advantages they demand."

Secret Internet Protocol Router and Non-secure Internet Protocol Router Access Point (SNAP) VSATs are highly-secure and capable satellite communications systems. They provide multimedia communications capabilities such as encrypted voice, video, and data. SNAP satcom terminals features modularity and plug-and-play interfaces that allow its operator to reconfigure its systems to match the specific requirements of the mission at hand.

HME outsources Broadband at Sea platform to Outsource-IT Management

Holland Marine Equipment (HME) has turned over executing duties at Platform Broadband at Sea to Ron Vollenga of Outsource-IT Management.

While HME retains ownership of Platform, Outsource's Vollenga will now coordinate the activities and events on behalf of HME.

Broadband at Sea promotes transparency in the maritime broadband market. It also promotes the use of fleet and satellite VSAT-provided broadband at sea. The platform organizes meetings that discuss market developments and issues regarding maritime broadband communication.

HME started the Broadband at Sea initiative in 2007 as a subsidized project limited to Dutch shipping companies and suppliers. The project's successful project led to its transformation into a Platform where international shipping companies and suppliers share the solutions reaped by their Dutch counterparts.

Outsource-IT Management had been active in Broadband at Sea ever since the project phase. Outsource-IT provides consultancy services in the field of maritime ICT for maritime companies. It is an expect on topics that cover fleet and satellite broadband connection, project management services, and other related services

MTN, WMS deploy VSAT, wireless solution on Carnival Breeze cruise ship

Carnival Breeze, the newest ship of Carnival Cruise Lines, will be able to provide its passengers and crew with wireless broadband services through a Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) system installed by MTN Satellite Communications.

For this project, MTN partnered with cellular service provider Wireless Maritime Services (WMS.) WMS possesses extensive experience with the unique wireless communications needs of the cruise line and ferry industry.

The combined telecommunications skills of MTN and WMS allowed Carnival Breeze to provide a "shore-side" satellite and wireless broadband experience to its passengers and crew during its first month of operation. MTN provided an Internet Café solution that could be accessed by mobile devices such as fixed PCs, laptops, smartphones, and tablets, allowing all aboard to stay connected with the wider world while enjoying the sea.

The Carnival Breeze cruise ship can carry more than 4,000 passengers and nearly 1,800 crew members.

Brent Horwitz, SVP and GM for MTN Cruise and Ferry Services, stated that the number of Internet and mobile minutes used during the maiden voyage of the Carnival Breeze today's society placed great importance on staying connected even while on vacation. Mr. Horwitz said that there is a significant need for the ability to surf the Internet and access data through personal mobile devices even at sea.

MTN Satellite Communications recently announced that MTN Worldwide TV is now available for government vessels. According to MTN, MTV Worldwide TV will allow seafarers to watch a wide selection of news and entertainment programming drawn from international television networks.

KVH picks MVS Group as mini-VSAT service provider

KVH Industries, Inc. recently agreed to a service provider agreement with mobile satellite service distributor MVS Group.

MVS will be allowed to offer KVH’s mini-VSAT Broadband service and TracPhone V-series satellite communications systems to MVS' global customer base. By bundling KVH’s service within MVS' billing and airtime management system and full suite of value-added services, MVS will be able to provide one-stop shopping services for its global customer base.

Brent Bruun, senior vice president of global sales and business development for KVH, expressed glowing admiration for KVH's newest service provider. “The MVS Group is a market leader that has won a solid following of loyal customers throughout the world," he noted, "By providing outstanding customer support and offering satellite services enhanced with its comprehensive, value-added services.”

VP Bruun expressed delight on behalf of KVH “to enter into this cooperation to offer [MVH's] customers next-generation VSAT services delivered by our mini-VSAT Broadband network and our award-winning TracPhone V-series product line.”

Founded in 1995, the MVS Group is dedicated to providing mobile applications access to L-band MSS services to its customers wherever they are. The company's excellent support, high-quality billing systems, and full range of value-added services made it a leader in the mobile satellite communications market. MVS Group is now the third largest Inmarsat Distribution Partner in the world. It is also a global Service Provider for Iridium. With corporate headquarters in the United States, and regional offices in Cyprus, Russia, and the Netherlands, MVS Group closely cooperate with their customers to realize business objectives through efficent use of satellite communications services.

On MVS Group's part, Deborah Deffaa, executive director of the MVS, explained that “Broadband connectivity offshore is becoming an important requirement in the commercial maritime industry.” According to her, MVS's customers are employing new applications to save fuel, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance effiency, and boost crew morale. These applications need faster and cheaper satellite communications service for maximum efficency.

"KVH has developed a remarkable new maritime broadband network," Director Deffaa observed, "That takes advantage of advanced, spread spectrum technology to dramatically reduce the size and cost of the antennas needed to receive the service onboard the vessels." KVH's advanced systems make it "easier than ever before to deploy affordable broadband service at sea.”

KVH designs are considered to be the fastest-growing and most widely-used maritime VSAT solution in the world. More than 2,000 Mini-VSAT Broadband system terminals have been sold.

The KVH network employs ArcLight spread spectrum technology. Created by KVH’s technology partner, ViaSat, Inc. with a specific eye for mobile use, ArcLight possesses a unique and desirable combination of fast speed, low latency, efficient reuse of satellite channels, and ability to support very small antennas that provide reliable service even in inclement weather.

Maritime vessels equipped with mini-VSAT Broadband service have access to some of the highest data rates available today. Download speeds can go as fast as 4 Mbps while upload speeds can hit 1 Mbps. The KVH satellite broadband service also provides Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone lines with optimized service and prioritization of applications.

KVH manufactures several onboard antennas for its mini-VSAT Broadband network. Its 24" diameter TracPhone V7 is an award-winning and highly popular option, while the 14.5" diameter TracPhone V3 is the world’s most affordable and compact maritime VSAT antenna. In addition, KVH will soon release the new dual-mode TracPhone V11, with the ability to accept both C and Ku-band satellite signals from KVH’s global network, giving the V11 95% coverage of the globe

C-Com-authorized RuSat-operated service center in Russia opens

Canadian company C-Com Satellite Systems Inc. teamed up with Moscow-based integrator RuSat LLC. to open C-Com's first authorized service center in Russia.

The RuSat-operated service center will be providing local maintenance and support for Russian customers who use C-Com's iNetVu mobile antennas. Experienced RuSat personnel took theoretical and practical training courses in the troubleshooting and maintenance of C-Com systems before receiving certification.

The certified service center is expected to simplify repair and routine maintenance procedures for the iNetVu mobile systems. In addition to reduced system downtime, RuSat and C-Com will no longer need to spend time and money on transporting defective and replacement parts.

C-Com is the world leader in commercial-grade mobile self-deploying satellite antenna systems. The company's systems possess an excellent reputation with Russian customers. Various local corporations and government agencies use the iNetVu mobile satellite antenna, often in extreme weather conditions.

Its partner, RuSat, is a satellite operator that provides telecommunications services from its Moscow-based teleport to more than 1600 VSAT systems scattered throughout Russia.

Transocean extends RigNet VSAT contract for North Sea rigs

RigNet will continue providing two Transocean offshore drilling rigs in the North Sea with managed communication for another two years.

Transocean is the world's largest offshore drilling company. Its Barents and Spitsbergen rigs are world-class semi-submersible offshore drilling rigs that operate in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea.

Like other members of the oil and gas community, the Transocean rigs rely upon a high-performance and secure network that ensures offshore and onshore communications, as well as access to business-critical IT applications.

To that end, Transocean extended their contract with RigNet. The managed remote communications company will provide a fully-managed end-to-end IP network solution that ensure last-mile connectivity through maritime VSAT technology.

RigNet's solution includes VoIP, enterprise data and Internet access services. Riverbed Steelhead appliances will power a WAN optimization service that will improve end user experience. Rignet's Network Operations Center will also provide 24/7 network monitoring and support, and it can also dispatch local field technician support if needs necessitate it.

By increasing the levels of standardization and innovation, RigNet's managed solution will allow the Transocean rigs to gain more from their network services.

Øyvind Folge, RigNet's Area Manager for the Nordic Region and Continental Europe, announced it a pleasure for RigNet to continue providing service to Transocean's important semi-submersible North Sea rigs.

RigNet provides managed remote communications, networks and collaborative applications worldwide. Specializing in the oil and gas industry customers, it serves offshore and onshore drilling rigs, energy production facilities, and energy maritime with distinction.

Video: Introduction to VSAT

Watch this short video for an introduction to VSAT. Find out what a VSAT is, how a VSAT works and which customers VSAT’s are ideal for.

Poor communication kills maritime VSAT opportunities

According to a recent maritime satcom conference, both VSAT system vendors and users needed clear lines of communication and understanding when it comes to the use, limitations, and management of satellite communications.

The GVF Conference on Broadband Maritime in London last month covered topics like the market size and the relative merits of the different technologies of maritime satellite communications. But the spotlight ended up focusing on the lack of communications between maritime communications vendors and system users.

Demetris Makaritis, Fleet Manager, Navigator Gas, reported his experience and opinion that VSAT services are intermittently available and often not operational. He cited the example of one vessel reporting 60% down time for its VSAT system in March and April. He did allow that he would happily pay more for bandwidth- that is, if he gets his money's worth.

Probing into the matter revealed that Navigator Gas was using an antenna that wasn't up to the company's requirements. Apparently, Navigator Gas did not inform the satellite communications provider of its exact requirements, so the vendor provided a VSAT model that was not up to the business' expectation.

Similarly, Kaushik Roy, DPA and Company Security Officer for MOL LNG, claimed that the VSAT service was unreliable. Officer Roy did keep Fleet Broadband as a backup, but he also complained that he couldn’t get through to the ship if the crew used up all the capacity for downloading books or movies.

The solution was painfully obvious: Traffic prioritization. However, MOL LNG apparently did not have any staff who possessed knowledge about prioritizing traffic.

Navigator Gas and MOL LNG are major maritime operators. Navigator Gas is the owner-operator of a dozen modern, massive semi-refrigerated gas carriers. Meanwhile, MOL LNG is part of the 910-vessel-strong Mitsui OSK Lines. MOL LNG itself has a hand in transporting 25% of the world’s Liquid Natural Gas (LNG.) Yet such serious misunderstandings still ensued between them and the vendors/providers of VSAT services.

The bigger picture reveals that there are roughly 9,000 commercial ship owners worldwide. (This approximate does not include fisheries and leisure.) Half of that number own just one ship. And these small operators would fare even worse in trying to understand satellite communications because they lack the resources of big companies.

A conference participant asked why the ship or company's radio officer was not involved in the buying process. The participant presumed that the radio officer would know what the ship's technical communications requirements were.

However, Kuba Szymanski of Intermanager revealed that the post of Radio Officer had been gone for many years, a casualty of obsolescence after computers superseded wireless.


The demise of the Radio Officer position meant that VSAT buyers did not have anyone who had a grasp of telecommunications. Deprived of relevant expertise, the buyers would not know the right questions to ask to obtain the service they need.

The conference also noted that there were reportedly many cases of satcoms providers who often lacked information about the unique needs of its customers.

The GVF Conference recommended that buyers needed to be properly educated in VSAT and other forms of satellite communications. Maritime academies currently do not provide courses on this critically important skill.

In addition, Richard Roithner of Euroconsult pointed out that telecoms represent less than 1% of a ship's operating expenses, so it could not demand a lion's share of the typical mariner's expensive education.

Suggestions to rectify the situation involved the satellite communications vendors taking a hand in educating themselves and their customers. Vendors were recommended to understand the maritime market's specific needs and to educate their customers on the capacities of their offered systems.

VSAT History

The concept of the geostationary orbit was originated by Russian theorist Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, an Imperial Russian and Soviet rocket scientist and pioneer of the astronautic theory. He wrote articles in space travel at the turn of the century. 

In the 1920s, Hermann Oberth and Herman Potocnik, aka Herman Noordung, described an orbit at an altitude of 35,900 kilometers. Its orbital period, or the time for it to make one complete orbit about another object, exactly matched the Earth’s rotational period, making it appear to hover a fixed point on the Earth’s equator. 

Arthur C. Clarke contributed to the understanding of satellites through an article published in Wireless World in October 1945 titled “Extra-Terrestrial Relays: Can Rocket Stations Give Worldwide Radio Coverage?” In this article, Clarke not only determines the orbital characteristics/elements, or the parameters required to uniquely identify a specific orbit, necessary for a geostationary orbit, but also discusses the frequencies and power needed for communications. 

Live satellite communications was developed in the sixties by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), named Syncom 1-3. It is transmitted live coverage of the 1964 Olympics in Japan to viewers in the United States and Europe. Soon after, on April 6, 1965, the first commercial satellite was launched into space, Intelsat I, nicknamed Early Bird. 

The first commercial VSATs were C band (6 GHz) receive-only systems by Equatorial Communications using spread spectrum technology. More than 30,000 60 cm antenna systems were sold in the early 1980s. Equatorial later developed a C band (4/6 GHz) two-way system using 1 m x 0.5 m antennas and sold about 10,000 units in 1984-85. 

In 1985, Schlumberger Oilfield Research co-developed the world’s first Ku band (12-14 GHz) VSATs with Hughes Aerospace to provide portable network connectivity for the oil field drilling and exploration units. Ku Band VSATs make up the vast majority of sites in use today for data or telephony applications. The largest VSAT network (more than 12,000 sites) was developed by Spacenet and MCI for the US Postal Service.

See: SDI is No "Star Wars"

Gilat VP proposes WiMAX network with VSAT backhaul for remote sites

A paper recently posted by Gilat Satellite Networks postulates the combination of WiMAX wireless technology and VSAT satellite communications to create a cost-efficient network for remote sites akin to those often encountered in the oil and gas industry.

Penned by Yair M. Sakov, Vice President and General Manager for Gilat's Wireless Business Unit, the paper focused on how the oil and gas industry possesses "unique communication needs" that constantly strain the limits of cutting-edge technology. VP Sakov cited a need to provide "remote and desolated sites" with both "narrowband SCADA applications" and "full broadband connectivity."

The traditional solution has been satellite communications, such as the now-widespread VSAT maritime systems. But this solution was described as lacking "cost-sensitivity" with regards to location and distance.

VP Sakov's paper postulates that WiMAX wireless technology -WiFi's bigger brother- can provide an affordable and efficient solution to providing multiple connection points to a widely-scattered group of sites. He suggests that WiMAX  be used to provide cost-effective broadband connectivity to a multitude of end points, and that VSAT technology be used to backhaul WiMAX sites.

In his proposal, VP Sakov suggested that a WiMAX base station link together a number of end-points scattered throughout a large area by way of a WiMAX Customer Premise Equipment connected to a LAN. The WiMAX Hub location will also act as a bridge to the IP core network and to the PSTN telephony network. The VSAT will then connect this WiMAX base station with other remote sites.

A network management system in the WiMAX hub is key to the entire operation. According to VP Sakov, a powerful network management system will allow the network operator to remotely manage both the VSATs and all the CPEs in the remote sites.

This elegantly simple new paradigm results in a "relatively simple network" that "combines the best of both worlds." WiMAX networks with VSAT backhauls can reach significant distances, cover large areas, and serve numerous connections all at the same time.

According to VP Sakov, such a network will provide numerous advantages. For one thing, Local Call Forwarding for calls within the same rig will no longer need satellite backhaul. This will help cut back on satellite OPEX and speed up traffic running between remotes sites served by the same WiMAX base station. 


In addition, all network elements and services can now be remotely managed. This includes the multi-service networks capable of handling voice, data, and video. And the system will remain independent from terrestrial infrastructure.

VP Sakov takes time to warn that in-depth understanding of WiMAX and VSAT technologies should be undertaken before deploying such a network. The two wireless technologies possess different strengths and weaknesses. Efforts to integrate them into the new network concept must take into consideration the need to maintain their advantages while also tending to their unique needs.

Gilat to upgrade Panama VSAT broadband network

Cable and Wireless Panama intends to expand its existing VSAT broadband network with the help of satellite service provider Gilat Satellite Networks.

The two partner companies will install a Gilat Sky-Edge II satellite broadband network to provide broadband Internet and telephony connectivity to all of Panama. Panamanians will be able to access Internet applications and telephony services through this new network.

Under the current network expansion,  Cable and Wireless Panama will deploy solar-powered Sky Edge II VSATs across the country. Gilat will install, maintain, and operate the hub equipment and VoIP gateways. Telesat's TelStar 11N satellite will provide the  Cable and Wireless Panama-Gilat broadband solution with new outbound capacity.

SkyEdge II is a Gilat multi-service platform that uses DVB-S2 and DVB-RCS to deliver high-quality voice, broadband data, and video services for many types of environments. Cellular backhaul, enterprises, government network applications, and rural networks will all benefit from the planned upgraded speed and quality.

Cable and Wireless Panama has been using Gilat's SkyEdge and SkyEdge II products to provide satellite-based services since 2005. The two companies jointly operate over 1,300 sites in Panama, which make the Latin American country's satellite network very robust.

NigComSat partners with iDirect for VSAT upgrade

Nigerian Communications Satellite Ltd (NigComSat) signed a contract with satellite communications company iDirect to improve the African satellite network operator's VSAT systems.

According to Satellite Toda, iDirect announced on July 9 that it would deploy both its new Series 15100 Universal Satellite hub and an Evolution-based service in Nigeria for NigComSat.

NigComSat’s current VSAT solutions handles the needs of both military and government customers. iDirect's Evolution platform will open new and profitable markets in enterprise and education in addition to improving the efficiency and bandwidth of existing VSAT customers.

In addition, Evolution provides NigComSat with a scalable platform that can easily switch between TDMA and SCPC return channels. NigComSat will have the ability to adjust its service levels depending on the current dynamic applications and changing traffic patterns. This ability will allow NigComSat to better tailor its services to customers, which saves money and increases the effectiveness of their satellite broadband service.

According to CEO T. Ahmed-Rufai, NigComSat believed that high-speed Internet would transform the Nigerian economy. NigComSat partnered with iDirect to implement an affordable satellite communications network that can easily accomodate the increasing broadband penetration in West Africa. Thanks to iDirect's Evolution platform, NigComSat will be able to provide a satellite broadband service capable to matching the often-contrasting requirements of numerous -and different- customers.