Business Intelligence BI Tip of the Day-Medium Earth Orbit Satellites-MEO-Provide Broadband Capacity to Cruise Passenger, Shipping & Offshore Sectors

"SES launches satellites to boost cruise ship connectivity."

"Arianespace launched four O3b satellites on a Soyuz rocket on 9 March from French Guiana.

SES has expanded its constellation of medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellites with the launch of four more on a Soyuz rocket. These satellites join 12 existing MEO satellites in the O3b constellation to provide additional broadband capacity to the passenger shipping and offshore sectors.

The satellites will provide coverage between the tropics in Ka-band, similar to the existing satellites, from an orbit that is 8,000 km closer than SES’s own geostationary satellites. They were built by Thales Alenia Space and launched by Arianespace from the Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana on 9 March.

SES chief executive designate Steve Collar said these four extra satellites will be commissioned ready to begin operation in May this year. He said SES invested in the new satellites because “demand for high-performance bandwidth and networks continues to grow”.

“As O3b is the only successful non-geostationary broadband system, we need these new satellites to fulfill demand across a wide range of verticals and applications,” he explained. This includes helping cruise ship operators provide greater levels of internet connectivity to passengers and offshore drilling rigs to deliver more VSAT capacity to workers and clients.

Carnival uses O3b satellites to provide broadband to passengers on ships such as Regal Princess. Royal Caribbean Cruises also utilises SES Networks MEO maritime service across its fleet for the RCCL Voom service.

SES chief technology officer Martin Halliwell said another batch of four O3b satellties are due to be launched on a Soyuz rocket in 2019. The first 12 O3b satellites were launched by three Soyuz launch vehicles in 2013 and 2014.

SES is also investing in its geostationary constellation and is due to launch what it describes as the most powerful commercial communications satellite, SES-12, in Q2 2018."

"‘REVOLUTIONARY’ SATELLITE BELT BRINGS FIBER-LIKE INTERNET SERVICE TO LARGEST RCL SHIPS."

"When Quantum of the Seas launched in November 2014, about 5,000 people on board simultaneously used its Internet service.

That might be remarkable simply because most cruise ships can’t hold that many people – guests and crew.

Most remarkable, though, is that 5,000 people on a cruise ship went online at the same time and did it without a hitch.

They were served by a satellite internet provider, which is enough the startle anyone who has ever suffered through slowdowns due to busy online traffic or heavy weather, or any of the other vexing vagaries that beset conventional satellite providers and their customers.

O3b Networks, the satellite Internet provider that serves RCL’s Quantum of the Seas, Oasis of the Seas, Allure of the Seas and the newly launched Anthem of the Seas – the four biggest cruise ships on the planet – is anything but conventional. (Note: RCL has launched more new ships since this article with the same or better connectivity capabilities, i.e. Harmony of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas.)

Instead of using a single high-orbit satellite like other wireless internet providers, O3b maintains a constellation of 12 communications satellites that orbit the earth at comparatively low altitudes over the Equator.

That geographic belt, says Bill Martin, chief information officer for Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd., is where RCL does most of its cruising.

So it took a gamble several years ago by working with O3b after RCL officials were convinced that this satellite company could solve the all-too-common frustrations of onboard internet users who wanted or needed to stay connected. The gamble paid off.

O3b connectivity rivals that of lightning-fast terrestrial Internet service through fiber optic cables, the current gold standard for going online at-home or in the office to stream movies, send and receive large electronic files or any other tasks that require moving lots of data between two or more points.

O3b, Martin says, “is like fiber from the sky.”

The most common pricing practice in the cruise industry is to charge so much – usually per minute – for onboard internet service that guests will be deterred from using it and crowding capacity.

“O3b allows us to flip that business model,” Martin explains. “We want as many people as possible to use it” at the current $10 a day per device for a week long package.

O3b’s medium-orbit satellite string can easily handle 14 terabytes per month, the equivalent of sending or receiving two million digital photographs every week.

Those who measure, and are limited to, five or 10 gigabytes of data per month under a standard satellite Internet plan can instantly understand and appreciate what that means, especially if they know that just one terabyte is equal to 1,024 gigabytes.

Better still, O3b claims network latency four times lower than others. Unlike capacity, latency refers to the time it takes for data to travel from sender to recipient and back again. High latency is responsible for the delays and time lags that sometimes interrupt a video stream, for example.

O3b (“Other 3 billion”) started as a way to bring affordable, reliable Internet connectivity to people in emerging markets. By recognizing the blazing fast internet connection it could also offer guests at sea, RCL became its biggest customer."

"What’s SES doing with its $1.6-billion satellite investment war chest?"

"SES has set aside 1.47 billion euros ($1.6 billion) for spending on new satellites between now and 2020. A global Ka-band broadband constellation in geostationary orbit had been viewed as a likely investment. But SES, since Aug. 1 the sole owner of O3b's medium-Earth-orbit network, now says it will look equally at MEO and GEO orbits for its future HTS, or high-throughput satellites." Credit: SES

PARIS – "Satellite fleet operator SES on July 29 said the cash it has set aside for new satellites may be spent as much on additional satellites for its just-acquired O3b Networks medium-Earth-orbit constellation as on a global Ka-band mobile broadband constellation in geostationary orbit to rival competitors ViaSat and Inmarsat.

Luxembourg-based SES had long been expected to use its substantial cash war chest – 1.47 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in yet-uncommitted satellite spending between now and 2020 – for a global geostationary-orbit broadband constellation.

SES for months has been rumored to be in discussions with various partners, including EchoStar of the United States, aeronautical entertainment provider Thales Live TV and satellite builder Thales Alenia Space, about whether to commit to such a system.

The idea is to provider a higher-throughput broadband system than what’s offered today by London-based Inmarsat’s Global Xpress network, and to beat Carlsbad, California-based ViaSat Inc. to the market. ViaSat is planning a global terabit-per-satellite constellation that could be in service around 2020, but has not yet been fully funded.

In a July 29 conference call with investors, SES Chief Executive Karim Michel Sabbagh repeatedly stressed that, as of Aug. 1, SES owns an asset that has no equivalent among the company’s competitors: the 12-satellite O3b.

Operating in equatorial orbit covering an area around 45 degrees north and south of the equator, O3b delivers high-throughput, low-latency Ka-band connectivity to remote island nations, maritime customers, offshore energy producers and other customers. The company has eight more satellites under construction."

Aug. 1 payday for O3b shareholders Google, HSBC, Liberty Global et al

SES assumed 100 percent ownership of O3b on Aug. 1, paying $722 million for the 50.9 percent of the company it did not already own to O3b investors HSBC, Liberty Global, Google, Development Bank South Africa, Satya Capital, Allen & Co and Next Bridge Venture Partners.

Sabbagh said O3b’s full presence inside SES councils is affecting how the company thinks about broadband delivery. He said ongoing research and development on a universal payload adaptable to O3b and geostationary-orbit satellites means a future high-throughput satellite (HTS) strategy could feature a blend of investment in O3b and geostationary assets.

“There is going to be a very relevant discussion about the most efficient way to deploy HTS payloads,” Sabbagh said. “We have, uniquely, the option to deploy in both the GEO and MEO arcs. And because we’re also working on unifying the terrestrial segments, starting with the antennas, we’ll be in a position to decide the optimum way to deploy these payloads. This certainly applies to Ka-band.”

The current capital spending reserve does not include planned investment in O3b, and until recently, “for Ka-band our natural thinking would have led us to does this in GEO,” Sabbagh said.

“Increasingly, we’ll be inclined to consider that MEO may be a more efficient way of doing it, with more-relevant performance for end users – improved bandwidth, latency and economics. As we deploy the payloads on a MEO arc, the economics are more favorable,” he said.

SES officials have said since they became a major O3b shareholder that the MEO architecture – unlike many low-orbit-constellation designs — allows the system to generate revenue with only a few satellites, with additional spacecraft added as the revenue opportunities merit. Ultimately more than 100 satellites could be part of the constellation.

O3b has rapidly grown the revenue it generates from leisure-cruise operators, notably Royal Caribbean, which has installed O3b antennas on 11 large cruise ships. SES said that since early 2015, O3b has increased its maritime revenue by 78 percent, albeit from a small base.

SES said O3b revenue between August and December of this year should total 45 million euros. For the entire year, O3b is expected to report more than $100 million in revenue, double that of 2015. O3b’s revenue for the three months ending March 31 was 18 million euros; for the three months ending June 30, it was 22.1 million euros.

As of June 30, O3b backlog stood at $360 million.

SES Chief Financial Officer, Padraig McCarthy, said O3b reported positive EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, deprecation and amortization, in May and June and would be adding to SES’s overall earnings by 2018.

O3b fits into the SES portfolio in two main areas – the struggling enterprise-data market, where O3b’s unusual service offer could stem the ongoing decline; and in mobility. O3b has boosted its maritime revenue by 78 percent since early 2015, SES said.

Mobility is the new star at SES

Mobility has become SES’s star performer in terms of revenue growth even before integrating O3b, growing by nearly 50 percent, to 44.5 million euros, in the six months ending June 30 compared to a year ago.

SES has been particularly successful in the aeronautical in-flight connectivity and in-flight entertainment sectors, booking contracts with Panasonic Avionics, Gogo and Global Eagle Entertainment (GEE).

GEE has recently purchased maritime connectivity and entertainment provider MTN and has said the merged company would consolidate its satellite bandwidth purchase.

MTN has been a large customer on Intelsat’s fleet. GEE has been more of an SES customer. Sabbagh said he was confident that SES would come out a winner in the consolidation. It remains unclear how many years MTN has remaining on its Intelsat contracts, and whether the early-cancellation penalties would be offset by the savings.

Imminent contract from U.S. Central Command?

SES and O3b officials have said they are nearing a sizable contract with the U.S. Defense Department Central Command for O3b capacity. Sabbagh said an announcement was expected in the coming weeks.

He declined to specify its size, but said: “Given the nature of the O3b solution and the nature of the client, that’s going to be quite significant capacity that will be provided from the starting bloc.”

"SES Boosts Cruise Ship Connectivity Via Satellites."

"SES expanded its constellation of MEO (medium Earth orbit) satellites via the launch of 4 more on Soyuz rocket. The satellites join twelve existing MEO satellites in O3b constellation in order to provide additional broadband capacity to the offshore sectors and passenger shipping.

The satellites are due to provide coverage between the tropics in Ka-band, similar to existing satellites, from an orbit which is 8,000 km closer than the geostationary satellites of SES. They were constructed by Thales Alenia Space and then launched by Arianespace from Guiana Space Center (Kourou, French Guiana) on March 9.

According to Steve Collar, SES chief executive designate, the 4 extra satellites would be commissioned ready to start operation in May 2018. He added SES invested in new satellites as demand for high-performance bandwidth and networks continued to grow.

Carnival Corporation uses O3b satellites in order to provide broadband to guests on cruise ships like Regal Princess. Royal Caribbean also utilises SES Networks MEO maritime service for RCCL Voom service.

Martin Halliwell, SES chief technology officer, said that another batch of 4 O3b satellties were due to be launched on Soyuz rocket next year. The first twelve O3b satellites were launched by 3 Soyuz launch vehicles in 2013 and 2014.

Currently, SES is investing in geostationary constellation and is ready to launch SES-12, described as the most powerful commercial communications satellite, in Q2 2018."

"Royal Caribbean increasing satellite bandwidth with expansion of agreement with Speedcast."

"Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. and Speedcast announced today they have extended its relationship together, which will further increase the bandwidth delivered across all Royal Caribbean International cruise ships.

The expansion of this deal will lead to increased bandwidth for guests and crew members, which will improve the guest experience.

Royal Caribbean began partnering with Speedcast in 2006, when Speedcast installed the first Ku-Band VSAT antenna that helped with increased demand. The Speedcast network now delivers fully managed communications solutions and value-added services to 37 Royal Caribbean brand ships for shipboard administration, and guest and crew usage. Multiple antennas on each ship with seamless automatic failover between Ku-Band and C-Band ensures high availability and Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

'Speedcast has been an integral part of our long-standing efforts to implement the latest connectivity solutions that allow us to provide enhanced communications for everyone, from our guests onboard to our employees onshore,' said Guillermo Muniz, director, Network and Satellite Engineering, Royal Caribbean. "We are consistently raising the bar on ship innovation and increasing requirements, and Speedcast is right there with us, collaborating to make sure that we have the infrastructure and support to deliver the best experience."

Thank you to Martyn Wingrove, SES, Steve Collar, Bill Martin, Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, Guillermo Muniz, Speedcast, Peter B. de Selding, Technology, Karim Michel Sabbagh, Padraig McCarthy, Martin Halliwell, John Stansfield, Matt Hochberg, Sputniknews.com, Princess Cruise Line, Carnival Cruise Corporation and Arianespace for these articles, video and photographs.

Some articles have since been updated since with the latest information regarding these satellites, launches, new ships and the connectivity infrastructure. Thank you for reading.