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VSAT

Maritime users can now have access to cost effective broadband connections via VSAT based satellite services whilst at sea. Unlike traditional Inmarsat services VSAT services offer unlimited usage at a fixed cost making budgeting straightforward and removing the concern of rogue calls or unforeseen connections.

There are a variety of services available with the prime differentiator being contended and non-contended access. In short “Contended” means that you will share the satellite bandwidth with a group of other users within the same satellite footprint. As a result your actual throughput speeds will vary as other users start and stop sending data. “Non- Contended” simply means that you purchase the bandwidth you require and it is yours to use alone. Due to multiple users sharing the same bandwidth resource, the costs for “Contended” services are significantly cheaper than “Non-Contended" and the users benefit from having access to the full resource when others are not online.

Services are charged for on a monthly basis and usually commit the user to a contract period of 1 to 2 years. True VSAT services are two way, providing a direct link or high speed IP based internet connection with additional value added services like VoIP, VPN access and port blocking facilities available.

The majority of VSAT services available provide an IP backbone giving the user new options like VoIP (Voice-over-IP) which can significantly reduce the cost of satellite phone calls. Services can be set-up so that the vessel has a number of terrestrial telephone numbers assigned to it. When dialled the terrestrial call is routed to the Land Earth Station where the call is transferred to a VoIP circuit over the satellite to the vessel. At this point it is converted back to a standard analogue connection and typically routed via the onboard PABX, just like other satellite communication.