Building next generation floating cells for faster data and voice
International Cruise & Ferry Review (Autumn/Winter 2009)
Even with the introduction of larger and more sophisticated cruise and ferry vessels, the rapid adoption on land of highly-capable smartphones and related mobile applications, powered by ever faster mobile data speeds, is accelerating and widening the gap between the land-based and sea-based communications experience.
Passengers are leading lives that increasingly rely on real-time mobile connectivity – whether voice or data, Internet or social networking. They will embark on their sea-based travels with devices that enable this connected or networked live style. For the cruise and ferry industry, this passenger trend represents a critical challenge going forward.
Service quality
Today’s maritime mobile phone platforms are struggling to meet this challenge. Cruise lines and/or maritime operators are reluctant to increase expensive VSAT bandwidth to support a high-speed data experience. And investment in new generation GSM platforms that are designed to minimize expensive VSAT backhaul is lagging. The result is that revenue growth is slowing as the customer experience deteriorates.
Complicating this trend, maritime mobile operators have been heavily focused on passenger needs, while crew, who increasingly rely on mobile phones for virtually all their communication needs, see their needs addressed with passenger-centric solutions. This applies to crew across not only the cruise and ferry segments but on board thousands of commercial vessels as well.
Operations
On-Waves, which launched maritime mobile phone service in early 2007, was founded by Siminn (Iceland’s national telecom operator) and entrepreneurs who had pioneered the introduction of maritime service back in 2003.
On-Waves recognized from its inception that continued market growth required a strong mobile data capability and as a result constructed an advanced, 2nd generation maritime GSM network that offers higher speed GSM EDGE service today and is readily capable of supporting 3G services in the future.
Gone for good are the days when simply being able to make and receive a mobile phone call at sea is sufficient. Passenger satisfaction with the communication experience at sea will be increasingly driven by their data-driven smartphone experience. Cruise lines face a couple of risks here. One, prospective customer may opt for land-based vacation destinations that offer a superior networked experience. Two, passengers may simply wait until they reach port to use their phones, reducing both data and voice on-board revenue. Seamless, easy-to-use maritime voice and data services such as those offered by On-Waves are an essential component of the overall passenger experience going forward.
Tailor made solutions
The emerging networked passenger provides additional service opportunities to the cruise lines. For example, On-Waves has developed mobile phone messaging applications to enhance a cruise line’s interaction with their passengers, such as an on-board text messaging platform that enables cruise line staff to send informational messages to passengers. Our cruise line partners are using this capability with much success.
We have extended this concept further, using Bluetooth technology found in most handsets today to develop a free text message service that operates in highly specific areas, such as when a passenger stops by the spa or a premium restaurant, where location-specific information can be provided in a convenient electronic format. By leveraging both applications, cruise lines can tailor passenger communications to narrower passenger segments, increasing the effectiveness of on-board marketing efforts.
The On-Waves platform can also deliver other forms of content to passenger mobile phones, such as mobile TV, either through mobile TV streaming or Video on Demand. We have recently deployed mobile TV service on vessels for MSC Cruises.
Data roaming and crew pre-paid services
On Wave’s seamless voice/data roaming service for passengers relies on hundreds of maritime-specific roaming agreements we have implemented with GSM and CDMA operators across the globe.We continue to add new roaming partners and new services, such as 3G, to our global roaming network.
Mobile phone service has become a critical dimension to crew welfare as well, although it is often, unfortunately, neglected in favor of passenger service. On-Waves designed its 2nd generation network to meet the needs of crew through an advanced pre-paid platform that we own and operate. The platform allows On-Waves and our cruise line partners to develop tailor-made user profiles, set unique, destination-based voice pricing, make and receive text messages (SMS) and, importantly, access data service at GSM EDGE speeds.
To meet the needs of income-constrained crew and their families and friends, we not only set crew pre-paid pricing at affordable levels, we also offer crew pre-paid phone numbers that minimize the local cost to family and friends to call an On-Waves crew subscriber, avoiding the high cost termination rates often found with pre-paid crew offers. Since an essential benefit to pre-paid GSM service is the ability to receive private, in-bound communications, we believe our approach to pre-paid numbers will prove quite attractive.
On-Waves will remain a leader in the maritime market by pioneering the introduction of new advanced services and serving as a value-added partner to our maritime clients. We will also continue to leverage our network and service capabilities to other maritime segments, such as offshore oil & gas, commercial and merchant, fishing and the Mega-yachts segments, along with emerging satellite-enabled segments such as remote terrestrial and aeronautical.
C.Simeonidis.
Contact : info@on-waves.com
