July 25, 2011

Stratos Global,has completed deployment of its new StratosMAX II broadband service for W&T Offshore, Inc (NYSE: WTI) at 29 sites in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). W&T is an independent oil and gas company based in Houston.

The WiMAX-based StratosMAX II provides reliable voice communications, high-speed (up to 10Mbps) Internet connectivity, Stratos HotSpot WiFi service and a wide range of mobile applications. For W&T, StratosMAX II is powering numerous applications, including procurement, recording production and preventative maintenance.

Stratos also is providing W&T with an auto-failover VSAT service to ensure 100 percent service continuity to those StratosMAX II sites. The failover service protects against momentary outages on last-mile connections.

The Stratos microwave backbone network carries StratosMAX II traffic to shore. With its redundant beach crossings, survivable ring architecture and on-land fiber optic distribution, the offshore microwave network provides very high reliability in the harsh GoM environment. Stratos uses the industry's most sophisticated management systems to monitor its microwave network 24x7.

"The StratosMAX II advantages of higher speeds and ultra-low latencies over a robust network enable our customers to achieve maximum functionality at the same price they were paying for traditional VSAT service," said Gerbrand Schalkwijk, Stratos Vice President, Global Enterprise Sales. "This economic flexibility will enable customers to expand their networks to include corporate video conferencing, telemedicine and other bandwidth-intensive applications."

Schalkwijk added, "This deployment for W&T demonstrates our dedication to providing energy companies with customized solutions that maximize flexibility, scalability and crew welfare in the most rugged environments."