Last year, Airbus Defence & Space and Intelsat bundled forces to improve maritime VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal). Now James Collett, Intelsat´s Head of Mobility and Energy Services,
talks about increased sales and future tasks
What is the benefit of the partnership?
James Collett: The strategic agreement for a fully managed service includes[ds_preview] secure access to Intelsat’s global hybrid satellite network which is comprised of Ku-band satellite capacity and terrestrially managed network, IntelsatOne. In addition, Airbus will be able to bridge its maritime VSAT services to Intelsat’s EpicNG platform, the first of which, Intelsat 29e, is scheduled to launch early 2016. The open architecture design will provide Airbus the flexibility to incorporate HTS capacity into differentiated offerings designed to customer’s need. This means a lower cost-per-bit delivered, and Airbus end-users can derive the benefits of EpicNG capacity without any need to change equipment, minimizing capex expenditures and lowering the total cost of ownership.
How many vessels do you plan to equip?
Collett: Whilst we do not publish global figures at that level, it was notable that the partnership resulted in connecting more than 600 vessels with VSAT communications in 2014 alone. This included shipping companies such as Stolt, CMA CGM, Scorpio, and DOF, and represented a doubling of Airbus’ maritime VSAT sales over the previous year. Other Intelsat maritime customers include MTN, Harris CapRock, KVH and SpeedCast; our primary traffic is concentrated among some fifteen service providers, all well established in the sector
What will the future bring in respect of VSAT in the near- and middle-term?
Collett: Fleet owners continue to want ever increasing bandwidth to support more powerful VSAT-based services such as Voice over IP, virtual private network connectivity, engine monitoring, weather routing, telemedicine and video conferencing. Crew welfare demand will also contribute, as the delivery of more video to more devices continues to grow. Comsys in March 2015 forecasted that the maritime VSAT market would see an 18% CAGR from 2014 to 2018, with more than 40,000 sites in service by the end of the forecast period. Intelsat EpicNG will continue to meet growing maritime sector demand for more C- and Ku-band coverage, with six satellites launching from 2016 through 2019. This will place the HTS capability where maritime providers need it most and ensure that services will always be available. The addition of our IntelsatOne Flex service will simplify the integration of HTS into our customers’ existing infrastructure and address inefficient bandwidth scaling of our customers’ networks today.
Are there opportunities to contribute to more safety?
Collett: Safety and security are major issues for shipping companies and crews. At the same time, piracy remains a threat, with recent growth in Asia. Therefore, we expect to see more safety and security broadband-based applications and also the need for increased access to online training and medical care via telemedicine. Additionally, the delivery of more bandwidth to the vessels will allow companies that create on-board applications to develop more feature-laden offerings that bring more benefits to the vessel operators and crews.
What are the main technological tasks and how do you plan to meet these?
Collett: In a sense, our goal is actually to remove the technological challenges from the end customer and focus on delivering high-availability platforms that facilitate elegant and accessible services from end-to-end. Behind this, we are focusing on an array of technological developments that include optimization of the assigned radio spectrum, advanced spacecraft and network design, and a range of new antenna developments. For example, in February, we announced significant new mobility developments with manufacturers Kymeta and Phasor, which will enable higher performance, low-weight antenna systems delivered as part of a commercial package offering unique service and value to the mobility sector.
Michael Meyer
