Page 66: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (October 1999)

SatCom Report

The Storm Before The Calm?

Advances in satellite communication product and service technology seem to have out- paced many of the markets they seek to serve.

However, despite some jittery times for the big three global satcom providers, it appears that maritime and offshore markets stand to gain real, bottom-line-driven results by adopting the latest communication technology solu- tions.

The maritime industry has traditionally — with its generous mix of large corporate and small independent ownership — taken considerable flak for its collective conservative nature in regards to the integration of advanced technological products and systems onboard vessels, large and small. Much of the criticism is unde- served, as vessel owner operators around the world have embraced advances in propulsion and electronics (although, it must be noted, that many changes have been "forced" by legislative and/or prevailing market demands.)

Communication technology advances, particularly the ability to communicate ship-to-ship and ship-to- shore via satellite links, have truly been astounding in the past few years. In general, as the world drives (but sometimes stumbles) toward the theoretical global economy, it becomes more critical that instantaneous communication is always available, from any spot on the earth to any other spot.

Enter the "Space Race" 1990s style, with companies investing billions of dollars building global satellite communication coverage. The players — Iridium,

Globalstar and ICO —are well known, as they have been covered within these pages as well as those in other business and consumer press for the better part of the decade. But the industry that could seemingly reap a rose from nearly any seed it had sown has suddenly lost a bit of its bloom, at least in investor's eyes, as serious questions are being raised in the wake of Iridi- um's Chapter 11 filing late this summer.

At press time Iridium was in full swing re-organizing its balance sheet and marketing plans, and current man- agement seems determined to keep the network, which cost an estimated $6 billion to put in place, alive. Key to the system's future will be the continued commit- ment from Motorola, which owns about 18 percent of the company. Next to step into the box is Globalstar, which was scheduled to debut service on its own $3.8 billion network late last month. Before it even flicked its switch "on," however, Globalstar has already felt the power of association, as investors recent- ly punished the company to the tune of about 30 percent, mostly from the effects of Iridium's troubles. However, Globalstar is betting on its higher flying, less technically complex satellites and more modest pricing (estimated $1,200 to $1,500 for a handset and up to $3 per interna- tional call minute (estimated)) to hit the air run- ning, so to speak, and attract many customers in key markets such as fishing and offshore. (It is worthy to note that Iridium has slashed its prices for both handset and airtime, and today matches those presented by Globalstar).

With ICO scheduled to enter the fray next year, the choices of product and system will expand considerably.

When the competitive smoke screens do clear, however, it will be abundantly clear that advanced, global communication capabilities will exponentially enhance the process of ship- ping products across the world's oceans, as well as along the millions of miles of coastlines and inland rivers.

Every day there are new examples of how companies are using technology to make opera- tions more safe and efficient, from the use of satellite communication to update electronic charts to beaming signals regarding scheduling back to headquarters. As prices drop even fur- ther, new markets will open naturally, much as has happened within the cellular telephone ser- vice community. Crew aboard a variety of smaller workboats and fishing vessels may be compelled to purchase phones and service to keep in touch with family and friends, while innovative operators may even use this type of service to maintain crew loyalty and retention.

In the offshore realm, the advent of deepwater oil and gas discovery and recovery mandates communication systems which can adequately service the rigors of the operational environ- ment. And despite the recent downturn in off- shore production around the world, the market is a good long-term bet for providers of advanced satellite communication products and services.

According to the U.S. Department of the Interior's

Minerals Management Service (MMS), deepwater drilling (1,000 ft. and deeper) shows the greatest poten- tial of development. By year-end 2003, the MMS esti- mates as much as 63 percent of the oil production and 29 percent of the daily gas production will come from deepwater reserves.

ARCOMS To Acquire

CruisePhone

ARCOMS, formerly known as

BOATRACS, announced it has entered into a Letter of Intent with a privately-held corpora- tion, CruisePhone, located in

Florida. ARCOMS plans to acquire 100 percent of the com- pany's outstanding stock.

CruisePhone provides satellite communications services for the cruise and leisure industry, using

B.E.S.T. technology — a soft- 54 ware networking solution for satellite communication devel- oped by Innovative Communica- tions Technologies Inc.

Circle 92 on Reader Service Card

ViaSat Receives $6M

Contract From Star

ViaSat, designer and producer of advanced digital communica- tions products, will provide Star

Cruises' fleet with satellite net- working products.

Circle 93 on Reader Service Card

Globe Wireless Offers

Global Radio Network

Globe Wireless provides cost- effective messaging and data file transfer services via satellite and via the Global Radio Network of digital high frequency (HF) sta- tions to the marine industry.

Ships can send and receive e- mail, fax, Telex and transfer data files by satellite or through the network using the Globe Com- munications Center.

Circle 95 on Reader Service Card ©SAILOR

SALES AND SERVICE AGENTS

ANTILLES (NETHERLANDS)

Radio-Holland Caribbean N.V. • Curacao NA.

Phone: +599 94 612577 • Fax: +599 94 612723

ARGENTINA

SEN S.R.L-Buenos Aires

Phone: +541 361 1496 • Fan: +541 361 2606

AUSTRALIA

Rubin Group Pty Limited • Artarmon NSW

Phone: +61 2 94392333 • Fax: +61 2 94392278 am.I. sales • O'Connor, Weslem Australia

Phone:+61 89 337 3266 Fax:+61 89 314 2929

BAHRAIN

Aeradio Technical Services • Mina Salman Port

Phone: +973 727790 Fax: +973 727811

BANGLADESH

Graphcs Communications Lid. - Dhaka

Phone: +880 2 89 2440 • Fax: +880 2 883627

BELGIUM

Antwerp Marine Radio Company N.V. • Antwerp

Phone: +32 3 202 0499 • Fax: +32 3 202 0493

BRAZIL 0.L Naval Ltda. • Rio de Janeiro

Phone: +55 21 509 8667 • Fax: +55 21 242 7934

BULGARIA

International Marine Technologies Ltd. • Rousse

Phone: +359 82 228216 • Fax: +359 82 822230

IVORY COAST

Nautical Afrique • Abidjan

Phone: +225 250136 • Fax: +225 250137

Radio Holland (Canada) Ltd. • North Vancouver

Phone:+1 604 293 2900 Fax:+1 604 293 2930

CHILE

Serprotec Ltda. • Valparaiso (Deep Sea)

Phone: +56 32 232780 • Fax: +56 32 212215

Simrad SA Santiago (fishing)

Phone:+56 2 2351068 Fax:+56 2 235 8732

COLOMBIA

Bectronica Maritima Ltda- Cartagena

Phone: +575 663 3789 • Fax: +575 663 3643

CROATIA

BELAM-Zastupstvo i Servis Riieka

Phone: +385 51 672343 • Fax: +385 51 672179

CYPRUS

A. P. Hadjipieros Ltd. - Limassol

Phone: +357 5 345972 Fax: +357 5 345973

ECUADOR

Industrial Anabra C. Ltda - Guayaquil

Phone: +593 4 309766 • Fax: +593 4 313694

Nautical del Ecuador • Manta

Phone: +593 5 628900 • Fax: +593 5 628910

EGYPT

Suez Electronics Engineering & Trading Ltd. • Cairo

Phone: +20 2 2742911 • Fax: +20 2 2745219

ESTONIA

A/SRSTA- Tallinn

Phone: +372 6 312082 • Fax: +372 6 312082

FAROE ISLANDS

S.P. Radio A/S-Denmark

Phone: +45 96 34 61 00 Fax: +45 96 34 61 01 (for futher information)

FINLAND

ASPO Systems Oy • Espoo

Phone: +358 9 435 5670 • Fax: +358 9 435 56710

Navidec Oy - Helsinki

Phone: +358 9 70017 780 • Fax: +358 9179 830

FRANCE

Geolink - Roquevaire

Phone: +33 4 42 32 99 00 • Fax: +33 4 42 32 94 95

SDM Electron [que - Sartrouville Cedex

Phone: +331 39146833 • Fax: +331 39133022

GERMANY

Bna GmbH • Rellingen/Hamburg

Phone: +494101 30100 • Fax: +49 4101 301214

GIBRALTAR

Electro Med - Marina Bay

Phone: +350 77077 • Fax: +350 72051

GREECE

Marac Electronics SA • Perama - Piraeus

Phone: +30 1 43 14361 • Fax: +30 1 43 14234

GREENLAND

S.R Radio A/S • Denmark

Phone: +45 96 34 61 00 • Fax: +45 96 34 61 01 (for further information)

HOLLAND

Radio-Holland Marine B.V. • Rotterdam

Phone: +31 10 4283344 Fax: +31 10 4281498

Sailtron B.V. • Utrecht

Phone: +31 30 2840850 • Fax: +31 30 2937642

HONG KONG

Radio Holland B.V. • Kwai Chung N.T.

Phone: +352 24239007 • Fax: +852 24805898

Hoi Tung Communication & Navigation Co. Ltd

Phone: +852 25421262 • Fax: +852 25431137

ICELAND

Radiomidun Ltd. - Reykjavik

Phone: +354 511 1010 • Fax: +354 511 1020

INDIA

Elcome Marine Services Pvt Ltd. • New Bombay

Phone: +91 22 762 91 26 • Fax: +91 22 762 91 50

FT Panorama Timur Jaya • Jakarta

Phone: +62 21 475 6788 Fax: +62 21 4751688

IRAN

Kaman Hormozgan Marine Engineering • Tehran

Phone: +98 21 222 8020 • Fax: +98 21 222 4502

ISRAEL

Alhout-Yam ltd. • Haifa

Phone: +972 4 86 20804 Fax: +972 4 8627404

ITALY

Compagnia Generate Telemar • Roma

Phone:+39 063 221 800 Fax:+39 063 240148

Genetalmare est S.R.L • Chiavari

Phone: +39 0185 323 356 • Fax: +39 0185 322 731

Kaigai Gijyutsu K.K. • Yokohama

Phone: +81 45 6647318 • Fax: +81 45 6647320

KOREA

Samyang Radio Co. Ltd. • Pusan

Phone: +82 51 413 5000 • Fax: +82 51 413 5002

Tum-On Electronics Company • Pusan

Phone: +82 51 462 3930 Fax:+82 51 462 3089

KUWAIT

Elcome International • Safat

Phone: +965 2406822 • Fax: +965 2406833

LATVIA/LITHUANIA

Transas Marine BaHia Riga

Phone: +371 7286585 • Fax: +371 7821202

LEBANON

Selmar Etectronics SAR.L.- Beirut

Phone: +961 1 491 489 • Fax: +961 1 495 325

MALTA

Medcomms Ltd. • Gzira

Phone: +356 335521 Fax: +356 310820

MOROCCO

Soremar Casa - Casablanca

Phone: +212 2 442802 • Fax: +212 2 305385

NAMIBIA

Radio Electronic c.c. • Walvis Bay

Phone: +264 64 207 483 • + 264 64 206 916

NEW ZEALAND

Wrights Ltd. • Wellington

Phone:+64 4 568 8975 Fax:+64 4 568 8361

NIGERIA

Netarcomms Nigeria Ltd. • Lagos State

Phone: +234 1 470 2959 • Fax: +234 1 545 2376

NORWAY

SAILOR Norge as-Oslo

Phone: +47 22 89 7875 • Fax: +47 22 89 7804

SULTANATE OF OMAN

Elcome intemationl Muttrah

Phone: +968 788 332 • Fax: +968 788 331

PAKISTAN

International Aeradio Pakistan (Pvt) Ltd. • Karachi

Phone: +92 21 5837800 • Fax: +92 21 5870331

REPUBLIC OF PANAMA

Proveedora Tecnica, S A • Panama

Phone: +507 227 3533 • Fax: +507 2271053

POLAND

EPA Ltd. • Szczecin

Phone: +48 914 874 885 • Fax: +48 914 875 014

PORTUGAL

Nautel - Electronica Maritima, Lda. • Usbon

Phone: +351 1 39 20 940 • Fax: +351 1 39 20 949

QATAR

Eastern Technical Services Co. • Doha

Phone: +974 477412 • Fax: +974 478282

RUMANIA

Imsat Maritime SA Constanta • Constanta

Phone: +40 41 639038 • Fax: +40 41 674356

RUSSIA

Transas Marine Ltd. • St. Petersburg

Phone: +7 812 325 3131 • Fax: +7 812 567 1901

Moretron Ltd Murmansk

Phone: +47 6510144 • Fax: +47 8510144

SAUDI ARABIA

Key Communications Development Ltd. • Dammam

Phone: +966 3 8336940 Fax: +966 3 8330728

SINGAPORE

Radio Holland Singapore - Singapore

Phone: +65 8622218 • Fax: +85 8622430

SOUTH AFRICA

Cape Maritime Electronics (Pty.) Ltd. • Cape Town

Phone: +27 21 551 3204 • Fax: +27 21 551 3206

Radio Holland Group • Paarden Eiland (Cape Town)

Phone: +27 21 511 0864 • Fax: +27 21 511 7577

SPAIN

Nautical • San Sebastian de los Reyes (Madrid)

Phone: +34 91 6549411 • Fax: +34 91 6549600

SWEDEN

Vingtor Marine AB • Askim/Goteborg

Phone:+46 31 668400 • Fax:+46 31 683660

TAIWAN R.O.C.

Unimax Electric & Co., Ltd. Kaohsiung

Phone: +886 7 815 9775 • Fax: +886 7 815 1775

THAILAND

A & Marine Co., Ltd. Samutprakarn

Phone: +66 2 703 5544 • Fax: +66 2 703 55 25

TUNISIA

Alcatel Tunisie • Tunis Cedex

Phone: +2161 717177 • Fax: +216 1 719888

TURKEY

Etektro-Deniz Ltd. - Istanbul

Phone: +90 216 392 77 29 • Fax: +90 216 392 8018

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES

Elcome international LLC. • Dubai

Phone: +971 4 342333 • Fax: +971 4 342465

UNITED KINGDOM

Ships Electronic Services Ltd. • Rochester (Kent)

Phone: +441634 295500 • Fax: +44 1634 295536

URUGUAY

Electromaritima Uruguaya Ltda. • Montevideo

Phone: +598 2 924 77 89 • Fax: +598 2 924 71 38

USA

Radio-Holland USA, Inc. • Houston (Texas)

Phone: +1 713 943 3325 • Fax: +1 713 943 3802

VENEZUELA

Radio-Holland De Venezuela S A. • Maracaibo

Phone: +5861 987811 • Fax: +5861 982596

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