Page 21: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 2005)

July 2006 21

Communications in Shipping USA

COMIS USA

Communications technology onboard and its effective use for safe, efficient and cost effective ship operations l Meet ship operators and learn about their requirements l Network with leading experts in the industry l Explore the latest technology available in the US l Discuss the importance of new systems for the safe operation of ships l Debate the future of communications systems onboard

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Monday 11th - Tuesday 12th September 2006

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Circle 256 on Reader Service Card choosing. The standard report interval is one report per hour until the rig is back on location or re-geo-fenced at a new location. Another advantage of the system is tracking during rig moves. The rig operator may access dTrac and have the geo-fence disabled for rig moves.

Then the rig will send a standard position report every hour during the rig move. Once the rig reaches the new site, the geo-fence is them activated. Lastly, the

RigTrac system can be manually polled for an updated position at any time. This feature is very useful during both hurricanes and rig moves. The RigTrac unit has four I\O ports in order to accommodate different types of sensors for additional monitoring capabilities. Silent alarm switches may be added to upgrade the system to an SSAS system should such systems become required for MODU's.

Seamobile Acquires MTN

SeaMobile, Inc. has acquired Maritime

Telecommunications Network, Inc. (MTN), a provider of satellite-based broadband communications and net- working services for the maritime industry. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed. "SeaMobile saw a strategic opportunity to combine the wireless and satel- lite expertise of the world's leading maritime commu- nications companies to completely change the way travelers communicate at sea," said William D. Marks,

CEO of SeaMobile. SeaMobile was founded in March 2005 to provide wireless voice, data, Internet and other content and communications related services for cruise lines, oil and gas platforms, ferries, yachts, container- ships, and government/military sectors. SeaMobile's technology is an IP/software-based solution that works with any type of wireless phone (GSM, GPRS or

CDMA) used by the customer when accessing the

SeaMobile network at sea. This allows virtually any- one aboard any vessel at sea to use voice and data serv- ices available through their wireless home carrier, just as they would on land.

Radio Holland Group Joins Imtech

Radio Holland Group B.V. and Imtech N.V. announced that the acquisition of Radio Holland Group is definitive. The acquisition has been approved by both the NMa (Dutch Competition Authority) and

German Bundeskartellamt (German Federal Cartel

Office). The acquisition will almost double revenues of

Imtech in the maritime market. The acquisition price, including an earn-out, is approximately $59m and will be paid in cash.

Broadband for Cruise Ships

Grandi Navi Veloci, WINS and Maltasat

International launched a satellite-based communica- tions network on the first two of eight luxury cruise fer- ries that sail in the Western Mediterranean. The new network enables Grandi Navi Veloci to extend GSM telephony to passengers and crew at sea and also to provide broadband access services. The complete fleet of eight GNV ferries is expected to be equipped before the end of the year. Skylogic Italia is providing con- nectivity to and from vessels via its D-STAR satellite broadband product that connects to its teleport in Turin,

Italy.

France Telecom Debuts New

Pricing for Connexion by Boeing

France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications (FTMSC) announced two new pricing programs for

Connexion by Boeing's maritime service offering to encourage commercial shipping companies to make the switch. "With these two new programs," said Ghani

Behloul, vice president marketing & communications for FTMSC, "we believe we can offer customers what they really want-a choice in connectivity." The first is an evaluation program for those customers who wish to experience the service before making a long-term com- mitment. Under this program, customers can try the

Connexion by Boeing high-speed Internet service for four months. This includes 2,000 minutes of data access, 100 minutes of voice, live global television (upon introduction in the fourth quarter) and access to the Connexion by Boeing online service management tools. At the end of the evaluation, customers can simply return the equipment or take advantage of finan- cial incentives to convert to a standard service agree- ment. For those customers ready to commit a fleet to the high-speed, feature-rich Connexion by Boeing serv- ice, FTMSC offers a one-time promotional package where qualifying customers signing a standard service agreement for the service this year will receive a 30 percent discount off the regular monthly service fee through 2008. The Connexion by Boeing maritime serv- ice provides data rates up to 256 kbps from a vessel to the satellite and data rates of up to 5 mbps from the satellite to a vessel. The high-speed data rate allows multiple, simultaneous users to access the

Internet, corporate intranet and email, as well as obtain additional information for vessel management such as weather, routing and port information.

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