Kurt Riegelman News

Marlink is a long-standing Intelsat S.A. customer, with services on multiple Intelsat satellites and the IntelsatOne terrestrial network, has signed an agreement for high-throughput connectivity from Intelsat’s Horizons 3e satellite. Horizons 3e, a joint venture satellite owned by Intelsat and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation, will be stationed at 169o East to deliver connectivity in the Asia-Pacific region. The satellite is scheduled for launch in the second half of 2018, and when combined with the already contracted high-throughput broadband services provided by Intelsat 29e, Intelsat 33e and Intelsat 35e, Marlink will offer Intelsat EpicNG performance to its maritime customers traversing the world’s busiest shipping routes.

Intelsat S.A. has been selected by Marlink to deliver fast, high quality Intelsat EpicNG broadband connectivity to Mediterranean Shipping Company’s (MSC) cruise ships. At the end of May, MSC Cruises began to apply EpicNG’s high throughput connectivity aboard the MSC Divina, one of the world’s largest cruise ships. Utilizing Intelsat’s Globalized Network, Marlink will provide broadband connectivity to all of MSC Cruises’ 12 existing ships, ensuring the company’s entire fleet will be covered globally.

Marlink and Intelsat S.A., operator of the world’s first Globalized Network, announced that itsstrategic agreement – initiated in 2014 to introduce improved maritime offerings to the marketplace  – continues to pay dividends for the companies and the maritime end-users. Marlink continues to roll out additional connectivity services via Intelsat’s Globalized Network which includes secure access to Intelsat’s global Ku-band capacity and terrestrially managed network, IntelsatOne. Marlink is now preparing to deliver a quantum improvement in throughput that will help satisfy end-user demand as the first of the Intelsat EpicNG satellites is on schedule to be integrated into the network solution in the second quarter of 2016.

While the true uptake of broadband across the maritime sector has been slow to develop, a number of market conditions are conspiring to drive the service mainstream. Intelsat’s Kurt Riegelman discusses the matter with Maritime Reporter & Engineering News. While the advent of full broadband in the maritime sector is the exception rather than the norm, the tides are changing as companies increasingly deploy fast, modern ‘land-like’ comms in an effort to achieve everything from attracting and retaining crew, to streamlining business operations at sea and enhancing safety.

Astrium Services, the global innovative provider of satellite enabled telecom solutions, is expanding its VSAT coverage with 100MHz of Ku-band capacity on the Intelsat 907 satellite, to serve customers on the North Sea and across European waterways. As previously announced by Intelsat, the coverage agreement will enable Astrium to address significant demand from the company's core maritime transport and customized Ku-band VSAT segments, including customers in the North Sea oil and gas sector, where an increasing number of specialised vessels are pushing the boundaries of maritime VSAT usage. In 2013, Astrium Services' direct sales channel Marlink provisioned services aboard vessels in the North Sea with high capacity requirements, in some cases up to 12 Mbps, from ship to shore.

Intelsat S.A., a  provider of satellite services, has announced  that Mr. Grant Marais has been appointed Regional Vice President of Africa Sales, effective Jan. 3, 2013. Marais will be responsible for supporting the growth of Intelsat's customers in the region, which includes leading telecommunications and wireless operators, network services providers, and DTH platform operators and broadcasters. Intelsat provides these customers with critical communications infrastructure, including 23 satellites serving the region, and the Intelsat EpicNG high throughput satellite platform, which is expected to launch in 2015. "With his many years of experience in Africa…