Sherif Bakir, the CEO of Vodafone Roaming Services (VRS), recently wrote about “How we are evolving our Maritime Mobility service to meet the needs of our customers” in which he noted that “the world of maritime connectivity is changing”.
The global and maritime connectivity team from Telecom26 agree – and firmly believe that cellular is key to enabling effective digital comms and transformation on-sea.
In fact, VRS and Telecom26 are long-term partners in providing nearshore maritime connectivity and you can see a case study on VRS’ website titled: Sponsored Roaming - Empowering our partners with innovative solutions.
“Driven by a shared commitment to innovation, Telecom26 and VRS have partnered to provide secure, reliable connectivity across land, air and sea for more than eight years”.
Nicola Beradocco, CEO of Telecom26, writes in that case study that “Our leadership in worldwide connectivity is supported by our long-term partnership with Vodafone Roaming Services which helps us bring new solutions to market”.
But, of course, VRS isn’t our only roaming partner. Telecom26 operates as both a maritime MNO and a full global MVNO for terrestrial coverage. We have our own network core and operational assets leveraging relationships with more than 1100 network connections and 650 mobile operators across over 200 countries to secure unrivalled global coverage.
Our network uses 5G (where available), LTE-M, private networks, 2G, 3G and 4G, as well as satellite to provide the best nearshore and maritime connectivity to our customers.
We are observing new satellite players entering the maritime connectivity market although they are facing full coverage limitations due to country regulations. We believe that satellite and cellular complement each other in providing maritime connectivity not only for diversity but also for a better connectivity experience and extended coverage.
Maritime connectivity - and Telecom26
As a global operator, Telecom26 has a wide range of global and maritime connectivity solutions for vehicles and vessels of all shapes and sizes, commercial and leisure - and the people and containers that they are transporting.
As well as our nearshore connectivity service, our maritime connectivity services include:
- A full Cellular At Sea service for vessels of all sizes
- Private Networks for personal communications, onboard. You can read more about this here: Mobile Private Networks for Cruise Ships and the Merchant Navy
- A Maritime IoT Service including private networks on-board vessels, oil rigs and platforms – and supply chain tracking
As well as maritime connectivity, we also provide connectivity to inland ports and rivers as shipping companies often need connectivity on-land as well as maritime connectivity to monitor their freight as it moves out of and into a port.
At the heart of our maritime connectivity and global connectivity services are our Global eSIM and physical SIM cards. These provide data to all onboard devices via cellular data links. By onboard devices we mean Wi-Fi routers, container sensors, IoT networks, any system process that needs to connect to the internet, to a remote server or monitor – as well as the phones and devices of the crew and people on-board.
Our Global eSIM and physical SIMs can access most terrestrial and maritime networks. Not all networks are equally available – some offer better coverage in some locations than others. And every country has its own range of terrestrial network operators. This means that, as a vessel is on its journey, different networks may be available. Our Global SIMs seamlessly jump across networks throughout a vessel’s journey.
Catching up with our global connectivity and maritime connectivity teams
Later in the year will be announcing new partnerships with satellite connectivity providers. We are in discussions with providers of GSM connectivity over Low Earth Orbit to fill in coverage gaps both on land and at sea.
In addition, we are working with VRS and other operators to expand Telecom26’s 5G capabilities which will help improve the maritime connectivity of the people and devices on-board vessels of all sizes.
If you’d like to arrange to a call to discuss how our maritime connectivity and global connectivity services can connect the people and devices on-board your vessels as they travel around the world then please get in touch.
