Following a decade-long status quo, the maritime industry can now benefit from a superior L-Band connectivity alternative in terms of performance, reliability and value
By: Wouter Deknopper – Vice President, Maritime, Iridium Communications Inc.
As a standardized service, Iridium Certus delivers high-performing, pole-to-pole global coverage that enables a variety of applications. This includes safety, bridge and crew welfare communications, connected ship IoT capabilities like engine monitoring and remote diagnostics, as well as situational awareness reports. Not only does Iridium Certus enable coverage anywhere a mariner sails, the service offers the fastest L-band available on the market with download speeds up to 704kbps. A significant technology refresh, Iridium Certus can be used as the primary for vessels of any size or as a VSAT companion.
Iridium Certus is ideal as a primary means of communication for many vessels. With competitively priced monthly or annual service plans, shipping companies can take advantage of pooled service plans whereby a fleet of ships can combine their monthly data allowances into a single pool of access. Having this type of flexibility removes the risk of bill shock and allows shipping companies to stay within budget. For vessels adopting VSAT solutions, Iridium Certus has become the companion solution of choice. Combining VSAT with Iridium Certus provides robust reassurance to the ship owner or manager that regardless of where the vessel operates and even in adverse weather conditions, ship’s critical business will continue.
Upgrading to Iridium Certus from FleetBroadband is simple, cost-effective and low-maintenance. Iridium CertusTM terminal manufacturers Cobham, Thales and Intellian carefully considered the ease of conversion from FleetBroadband to Iridium Certus, allowing re-use of already-installed components such as cabling and support structures. The weight of an antenna is another major factor during installation, and a heavy antenna installation typically requires both a quayside crane and extra crew involvement which add to the hidden costs. Installing an Iridium Certus antenna doesn’t require extra costs. For perspective, the Thales’ VesseLink Iridium Certus antenna weighs only 3 kg while a FleetBroadband 500 antenna weighs upwards of 35 kg. There are no moving parts in an Iridium Certus antenna, and mechanically steered antennas are not required due to the nature of the Iridium® network. Therefore, the antennas are virtually maintenance-free once installed. In addition, our terminal manufacturers offer generous warranty terms and global service networks in case of any issues.
On Iridium’s most popular service plans Iridium is offering a limited-time promotion for an upfront credit for free Iridium Certus terminals, airtime, installation or accessories when upgrading from competing services. Iridium and its global service providers are also proud to announce that they are providing a generous program for up to 500 minutes of free calling through September 2020 to crew on board vessels equipped with Iridium Certus as a primary service. For more information about Iridium Certus, visit www.iridiumcertus.com/upgrade.
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