NewWave Broadband and ShipEquip contract 1°West capacity for iDirect services in Europe
Telenor has signed a 5 year agreement with NewWave Broadband (NWBB) to provide iDirect Virtual Network Operator (VNO) services for ShipEquip, utilising capacity on both THOR 5 and Intelsat 10-02 for coverage throughout Europe.
Hosted on TSBc’s iDirect platform located at Nittedal, TSBc will provide uplink services within its European footprint, whilst NewWave Broadband will manage and deliver VSAT satellite services to the maritime industry for ShipEquip, serving ships and vessels in the North Sea, the Norwegian Sea and the Baltic Sea.
“This agreement strengthens our growing partnership with ShipEquip and NewWave Broadband and further cements TSBc’s position in the Northern European maritime market”, said Michael Carter, Sales Director, Datacomms Services at TSBc. “With the approval of THOR 7 we are also able to offer our customers a future growth path at 1°West, providing additional capacity to support the increased types of services demanded by the maritime industry.”
“We are pleased to sign this agreement with Telenor Satellite Broadcasting and NWBB, allowing us to grow our business around the world” says CEO Ivar Nesset of Ship Equip. “The additional capacity made available through this agreement will greatly benefit maritime interests in the Shipping, Offshore and Fisheries segments.
“-The increased capacity comes at a time when we experience a surge in demand for our high bandwidth SEVSAT service especially in the Shipping segment. The times when you could tell a seafarer to ‘not communicate’ or communicate ‘as little as possible’ is coming to an end. Ship’s crew in general and especially young seamen going into shipping are accustomed to using the internet, e-mail and social media to do their job and handle their personal life. They will consistently choose employers with ships that are connected through high speed satellite communication like SEVSAT”, Mr. Nesset concludes.
“NewWave Broadband Ltd are pleased to be commencing new services with Telenor Satellite Broadcasting (TSBc ) for our primary customer Ship Equip AS” says Steve McCabe, CEO of NewWave Broadband. “TSBc provides capacity in regions where satellite service supply is difficult and where broadband communications for maritime customers is growing and essential. Through Ship Equip we have seen demand for these types of services grow significantly and the type of maritime capacity offered by TSBc allows our business to grow with Ship Equip.”
The high powered capacity at 1°West provides increased coverage in a key region, facilitating growing bandwidth demand throughout Europe’s busiest shipping lanes.
