It’s great to feel the level of optimism for a much-needed summer season gradually increasing. We are aware of a large number of yachts preparing for the season, many with unknown itineraries and dates as yet, but all ready to leap into action as soon as travel and quarantine restrictions ease, together with an increase in vaccinations.
In addition to our new 4G services for Europe announced last month, we have some interesting new regional VSAT services for Europe and for the USA which will help to provide fast satellite communications at a much lower cost!
Both our 4G and our VSAT services will provide the bandwidth needed to continue communicating in the Teams and Zoom world to which we have become accustomed, and all at a very reasonable cost.
These two new regional VSAT services break the PRICE BARRIER AND PERFORMANCE of conventional VSAT!
These are both delivered from very high-capacity Ka-band satellites capable of very high speeds.
Viasat-2 for the Caribbean, USA and Canada
This service can be used anywhere in the Caribbean, north America and Canada on a dedicated Sailor 600 or 900 antenna and modem. Typical speeds average around 25 to 50 Mbps but can go as high as 100Mbps. The speeds are the same for all plans. The plans are sold in data bundles as with 3G/4G/5G. We measure the data offered in each plan in units of the number of hours per day you can stream a SD video.
As an example, the ability to stream 2.5 hours of SD video per day, is equivalent to 2.5GB per day or 75GB per month of data required, costing $995 per month!
This service certainly breaks the price barrier of conventional VSAT!
For the first time, the price is equivalent to 4G, but this Viasat-2 service can be used where 4G can’t reach. To run a conventional VSAT service at about the same speed of 24Mbps would cost around $30k per month and a 4G service covering the Caribbean, USA and Canada would cost $900 per month for 75GB of data a month. As you can see, this is a major reduction in price for a satellite service.
Our recommendation
For regional yachts operating in the Caribbean and north America we recommend using it as the satellite component in our HYBRID solution working with our BIG DATA Caribbean 4G service. This service is only provided from one satellite which has a very high look angle over the Caribbean and north America so with twin antennas and an arbitrator it will provide pretty much unrestricted coverage and when combined with our Pay as you Go 4G service, almost 100%, super high-speed connectivity will be provided.
It’s a future proofed solution as European coverage will become available in 2022, with global coverage to follow.
Our Summer 2021 Viasat-2 Promotions
We are offering a promotion for this summer of the first month free of charge for completely new activations and the first two months free if replacing an existing service.
Thor 7 for Europe
This is a very attractive service for vessels with a high bandwidth requirement and a Mediterranean itinerary. It can be used on a 60cm or 1m Ka antenna on small and large vessels. Again, it is on a single satellite at 1 West which means it has an excellent high look angle from anywhere in the Med providing excellent coverage and it provides very reliable high speeds for both uplink and downlink.
Why is this different?
This is not a new service on a new satellite like Viasat-2. We have had clients using this reliably for a few years. However, what is new is that we have higher bandwidths at lower prices, some 60% lower than conventional Ku services. The highest standard bandwidth on the price list is 35Mbps down but higher bandwidths are available on request. In addition, we can offer immense flexibility as we do with our BIG DATA 4G services. The minimum commitment is only a month and upgrades can be requested for a minimum of 7 days or 3 days for 3Mbps CIR plans. Monthly contracts can be deactivated and reactivated as required.
Our recommendation
This is a great solution for yachts that keep to the Baltic, North Sea, Med, Red Sea and Persian Gulf. It can be contracted by the month and has the same level of flexibility as our BIG DATA Europe 4G service, so it can be combined using our HYBRID solution and data connectivity can seamlessly switch between 4G and satellite as and when required. This is an ideal solution in the current climate with unknown itineraries due to travel restrictions.
Our Summer 2021 Thor 7 Promotions
We are offering a Get-Ready-For-Summer promotion: we are providing the first two months free of charge on a 1:10 contended plan with a MIR of 2048/512. After this, the service can be contracted on a monthly basis. We are also offering a free Sailor or Cobham antenna with a 2-year commitment on specific plans.
The latest developments in the new LEO satellite world
Every month there are new announcements in the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite world, whether it be new satellite launches or development of antennas.
Intellian and OneWeb
OneWeb is thought to be the second most advanced LEO constellation comprising of 648 satellites, which when complete will deliver affordable, fast, high bandwidth and low latency Ku-band connectivity to every corner of the world. On 25th March they launched another 36 satellites into orbit as they gradually build their constellation.
On 8th March, Intellian announced they have won a US$73 million contract to develop and supply affordable, compact user terminals for OneWeb for many different vertical sectors such as enterprise, maritime and government.
Kymeta and Kepler
On Monday 22nd March, Canadian company Kepler Communications launched two more LEO satellites bringing their total number to 15, and on 23rd March, Kymeta, the flat panel communications company, announced a successful demonstration of their new u8 terminal acquiring, tracking and proving significant data throughput with Kepler’s LEO satellites. This collaboration with Kepler has proved Kymeta’s goal to develop solutions that are future proofed with a clear LEO upgrade path and to be compatible with the new LEO constellations.
Meet Santi Urien Molinos, a key member of our Marine Electronics Team
I was born in Burgos, Spain, but have lived in many other places including Alicante, Valladolid, Dublin and Vancouver. I have now settled in Mallorca with my wife and our 3-year-old daughter.
I have always been fascinated by computers, electronics and cars since I was a kid. I loved visiting the local library every week, looking for any type of technical book I could lay my hands on. I taught myself how to program in Pascal, Basic and C when I was 14. When I was 16, I dissected several car engines just for fun and to fully understand how they worked.
I studied an IT degree and majored in computer programming. I worked for a while as a web programmer, and then realized I was not meant to be confined within 4 walls in front of a computer screen for the most part of the day. That’s when I decided to study electronics design and had my first contact with industrial electrical maintenance in different factories.
After that I worked as a VHF radio maintenance technician, troubleshooting and performing very delicate “surgeries” replacing tiny SMD components in electronic boards.
Then I finally joined and became fascinated in telecommunication technologies.
What I like the most about working with e3 is that I don’t suffer the monotony of always working on the same thing. My daily tasks cover a broad spectrum, including hardware installations, troubleshooting, IT configuration, programming, and even some electronic prototype designing.
In my free time I try to combine family time with my perhaps-too-many hobbies, such as working on my car restoration project (a first-generation Mazda Miata), piloting microlight airplanes across the island, motorcycle riding around the Tramuntana, creating DIY electronic projects with Arduino, designing all sort of 3D printed parts, DIY repairs around the house, and practising sports such as cycling, kayaking, swimming and tennis.
Roger Horner
For further info on e3 VSAT and SUPER DATA
e3 systems
+34 971 404 208
