Page 54: of Marine News Magazine (April 2012)

tified firm offers the latest inInmarsat, Iridium and VSAT mobile satellite solutions. Tom Clark, Delta Wave President, views the emerging SATCOM business in brown water from a different angle, with the same goals. In terms of the brown water market, Clark had a lot to say. VSAT in particular has become much more affordable now than it was 10 years ago. While mobile satellite equip- ment and services such as Inmarsat and Iridium are still prevalent, broad- band solutions are increasingly in demand. Alternative technologies include Inmarsats new Wimax serv- ice which is an ideal alterative for companies operating in the GOM.?He adds, Newer technologies are about to become introduced which will offer even greater bandwidth (Inmarsats Global xPress, for exam- ple), which will be a game changer. This will provide even greater band- width than what is seen today alongwith competitive pricing structures. Current broadband suppliers will have to remain competitive and thus, current usage rates based on existing technologies should lower due to the increased bandwidths available via the new technologies.? All of that should be music to the ears of inland andOSV operators. With a nod towards his brown water customers, Clarks adds matter-of-factly, We put together custom solutions for cus-tomers who dont want something right out of the box. Theres no silver bullets ? no be-all/end-all.?SATCOM: S OON, YOUWON TBE ABLETOAFFORD NOT TOHAVEIT Boatracs CEO Irwin Rodrigues per- haps puts it best when he says, In a down economy, the focus turns to lowering operational costs, increasing vessel productivity, increasing human productivity and generally doing business smarter, often with fewer resources. Because of this, we actually saw an increase in the number of ves- sels using our satellite communica-tions services as well as an increase in software subscriptions. This was driv- en by the fact that mission critical data can be sent cost effectively through satellite, particularly using a narrowband solution. We serve a 54MNApril 2012