is excess bandwidth on the network, MTN allows its customers to ‘burst’ – to use more than the minimum CIR. “We have all the statistics and we know exactly how much bandwidth is going to be required to deliver a contemporary Internet experience,” said Mr Horwitz. “We always make sure we have enough bandwidth to enable bursting as well as the minimum CIR commitments.” He reported that many large passenger ships
are now employing hybrid solutions that utilise multiple frequencies to minimise downtime. For larger passenger vessels, supplying high bandwidth through both C-band and Ku-band frequencies
is straightforward. “Almost every
cruise ship has the real estate for a C-band 2.4m antenna or a smaller 1.0m to 1.5m Ku-band antenna,” Mr Horwitz commented.
One owner which has been investing in
improving its ships’ communications capabilities is Royal Caribbean International (RCI). Its 69,130gt Splendour of the Seas was drydocked at the Navantia shipyard in Spain towards the end of 2011 (see page 60). During this period, MTN upgraded the onboard WiFi network. Mr Horwitz said, “Royal Caribbean has some very ambitious plans to upgrade all of its fleet and it is looking at Splendour of the Seas as a test bed for a number of different solutions. We upgraded the onboard infrastructure to accommodate large amounts of bandwidth. For at least a test period it may have as much bandwidth as Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas.”
For MTN, this type of retrofit poses no
infrastructural problems. “The ship was only using a fraction of our system’s capabilities. We were able to provide equipment to accommodate a more robust system on board but for the most part we are able to carry out upgrades remotely through a keystroke,” said Mr Horwitz. “The ship sails between seven of our satellite beams so we were easily able to carry out this kind of request for them.” Splendour of the Seas’ WiFi upgrade allows passengers to access the Internet throughout the ship on mobile devices. “Many passenger ship owners are investing in more wireless infrastructure,” said Mr Horwitz. There is also demand for onboard content such as television. In 2010 MTN launched its Worldwide TV service, which provides seven standard channels and one live special events
looking to expand this to show more international sports and entertainment content and broadcast in multiple languages. Our plan this year is to enable passengers with iPads to view TV channels through a WiFi network wherever they are on the ship,” Mr Horwitz said.
For at-sea mobile telephony, MTN is also joint owner of Wireless Maritime Services (WMS), along with AT&T. WMS provides onboard mobile phone roaming services to passengers and crew. The joint venture recently signed up Star Cruises as a customer and is supplying its four ships, operating in Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Jim McKenna,
channel. “We are
WMS mobile telephony is already available on SuperStar Aquarius
www.passengership.info Passenger Ship Technology I Spring 2012 I 45
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100