Page 21: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 2004)

atCom of time they are connected. Fleet F33 from Stratos fea- tures a small, lightweight antenna and reduced-size oil- deck equipment

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PetroCom Helps Turn the Tide in

Offshore Communication

PetroCom completed phase one of base station instal- lations in the Gulf of Mexico — the first digital cellu- lar network in the Gulf— with final testing scheduled to have begun in early July. Working with Siemens and

Ericsson. PetroCom is introducing GSM technology to provide enhanced, secure and high-speed communica- tions for companies in the offshore industry. "The first digital cellular network in the Gulf is on schedule and moving swiftly to deployment," said

PetroCom President and CEO Brad Parro. "The first operational digital cellular sites signify PetroCom's solid commitment and delivery on its promise to bring the dominant and most strategic communications net- work to our customers in the Gulf of Mexico."

In addition, PetroCom is fully optimizing the existing analog network at the same time. The analog system is being reengineered and upgraded for better, more pow- erful performance.

When complete, PetroCom's digital cellular network will deliver approximately 100.000 sq. miles of cover- age in the Gulf of Mexico. The company will also pro- vide additional coverage to support deepwater explo- ration projects and specialized market demands.

PetroCom's network harnesses the strength of the

Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) standard. The network will also be one of the first sys- tem-wide deployments of EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution) technology in the U.S.

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SeaWave Helps Steer Ferry Home

SeaWave. LLC installed the SeaWave Integrator 3.0 aboard the Alaska Marine Highway System's (AMHS) high speed ferry Fairweather, as it embarked earlier this year on its one-month trip for delivery from

Bridgeport, Conn., to Juneau. Alaska. Derecktor

Shipyards wanted a communications system on board for email and weather tracking for its delivery voyage.

The SeaWave Integrator provided voice and email communications to the Derecktor delivery captain and 10 crew members during transit of the first commercial ferry to be built to the international High Speed Craft (HSC) code in the United States. SeaWave provides tracking services using their SeaWave STAR vessel tracking software, freely available to SeaWave users from their Web portal mySeaWave.

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KVH Tracphone F77 for High

Speed Internet

The Tracphone F77 by KVH Industries is designed to be a compact, high-powered marine satellite communi- cations system. Using the Inmarsat Fleet F77 service, the Tracphone F77 offers vessels high quality voice connection worldwide and high-speed data and inter- net connections in more than 90 percent of the mar- itime cruising routes and regions around the world.

Tracphone F77 can meet a variety of needs via its abil- ity to switch between Mobile Packet Data Service (MPDS) and mobile Integrated Services Digital

Network (ISDN) channels.

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Xantic Appointed BGAN

Launch Partner

Xantic was selected by Inmarsat to become a prospective launch Distribution Partner for the new

BGAN services which will become available to the market in 2005. The BGAN is designed as a complete, easy-to-use mobile satellite solution. With bandwidth up to 432kbit/s and improved portability via a broad

Hou; is the visibility of your satcom traffic?

August 2004

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