SES and Patrakom, a leading provider of telecommunications and network solutions in Indonesia, announced a partnership to provide seamless, high-speed connectivity to passenger vessels and oil barges traversing domestic routes in Indonesia.

As part of a multi-year agreement, SES Networks and Patrakom will be providing connectivity for over 80 vessels via SES-9 located at 108.2 degrees East. SES-9 is SES’s largest satellite for Asia-Pacific, and has a powerful mobility beam to provide coverage for vessels sailing across the East Indian Ocean.

The newly-created highly customer focused data division SES Networks is leveraging the extensive infrastructure, networks and operations to better meet the distinct needs of SES’s customers. The SES Networks business unit allows SES to deliver increasingly differentiated satellite-enabled solutions for data-centric segments, one of them being Mobility.

“At Patrakom, we provide daily connectivity to hundreds of vessels sailing across the Indonesian waters. Today, many of these vessels are limited by the level of connectivity due to the high entry barriers to get access to satellite communications. SES-9’s high-power mobility beam delivers seamless and reliable coverage over high-traffic domestic routes, enabling a cost-effective usage of bandwidth for our maritime customers,” says Endi Fitri, Director of Business Development at Patrakom.

Steve Collar, Chief Executive Officer at SES Networks, said, “We recognise a growing need for easily customisable and scalable connectivity solutions for the evolving maritime market. We are continuously enhancing our mobility capabilities with this in mind, and are pleased to support Patrakom with tailored bandwidth and coverage, offering them the flexibility to cater for the diverse connectivity needs of their maritime customers. The capacity provided by SES-9, with its dedicated mobility beam for maritime communications, is also well-suited for comprehensive coverage over Indonesian waters.”