When a battle is fought on the commercial front, the aim is to show customers that the "new thing" is now ready for them to buy. Such a battle has been brewing over the last few years in the maritime satcom business with the launch of a variety of products pitting companies offering VSATs against the more traditional mobile satellite services in L-band.
To win the customer's heart, both sides have made claims that they "own the sea" and more people are (or will be) using their service. Both sides have released their newest products with claims of higher speeds in communications links, wider coverage over the oceans and more capacity at cheaper prices.
Driving this turf war is the growing community of seafarers that wants more bandwidth for their maritime communications. The quick development in information technology for processes, management, administration, regulation and operations has been the driver of enhanced quality of service at sea. A whirlwind of contracts for both types of solutions have been announced in recent months. The strong demand has also benefits from the advent of broadband connectivity in all aspect of business and commerce, which led to an increase in supply and diversity of satellite services and platforms for sea-going vessels and offshore operators globally.
On one side of the battle you have C- and Ku-band satellite broadband equipment, the VSATs, with prices ranging from a few thousand dollars up to a hundreds thousands dollars. These deliver speeds down to the end-user terminal at up to 4 Mbps and return-path connectivity upward of 512 kbps.
In the other corner you have L-band satellite broadband services from operators such as Inmarsat, Iridium and Thuraya which continue to push the limits of these on-demand services, with downlink speeds up to 432 kbps. Prices now also range to a few thousand dollars up to $30,000. The recent launch of three Inmarsat fourth-generation satellites and the repositioning of this fleet completed in February have given a boost to this camp.
Inmarsat now has completed its Fleet Broadband coverage with the Pacific Ocean under its footprint, a sure signal it will sign up more customers after it sold over 1,000 units in the first 12 months following its launch.
To serve the smaller-boat market, the operators also realize that a need exists to offer mid-range downlink capabilities in the 100-250 kbps range. In October last year, Iridium added OpenPort to its product line, through which it offers packages that reach 128 kbps (in NSR's view, the minimum threshold for broadband in mobile satellite services). It announced pre-sold units through its specialized retail channel of around 3,000 and most of these are expected to enter in service this year. As a direct response, Inmarsat introduced its FB-150 product that equipment makers Thrane & Thrane (T&T) and AddValue have just launched.