Advanced Television

Speedcast delivers 1.8 Gb/s to cruise ships

April 3, 2023

By Chris Forrester

Communication specialist Speedcast has announced a patent-pending connectivity solution for cruise liners.

Speedcast’s TrueBeam technology platform enables comprehensive tracking between satellites and ship for the highest levels of availability, meeting full vessel capacity demands. Speedcast says that its solution supplies the highest continuous capacity in cruise history.

The technology is vital if a cruise vessel, with perhaps 6,500 passengers plus crew on board, is to receive a high quality of service. Speedcast’s international cruise line customer has installed and tested the solution on a 14-day transatlantic crossing. Speedcast is delivering dedicated capacity, which is a CIR-based (committed information rate) service versus a ‘best effort’ solution. The capacity is available at all times throughout the itinerary.

The dual Ka-band antenna solution provides non-metered bandwidth throughout the full itinerary of the ship for the next two years, with the ability to burst to 1.8 Gbps on demand. This represents the greatest bandwidth delivered to a ship on a consistent basis in cruise industry history, according to Speedcast. The bandwidth being delivered to the single ship surpasses the total capacity delivered across the cruise operator’s entire fleet just a decade ago.

Speedcast has previously partnered with the customer to demonstrate the ability to deliver significant bandwidth levels for bursting, setting milestones in 2016 and 2018. Now, with the implementation of Speedcast’s TrueBeam technology and complete satellite-to-ship tracking, the ship is experiencing consistent bandwidth levels throughout the entire itinerary, including transatlantic crossings.

“Since the cruise industry began its return to sea, demand for bandwidth has accelerated beyond all expectations to meet the needs of passengers,” said Brent Horwitz, SVP/Cruise at Speedcast. “This unique technical solution, in which the satellite coverage follows the ship across its itinerary, ensures that the ship always remains in the center of the beam, delivering maximum bandwidth levels consistently. We’re proud to bring this industry-first level of bandwidth to our customer’s latest ship and to implement it on short notice to support their growth requirements.”

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