Intelsat announced that Station 53, supplier of integrated communications services to luxury yachts, has signed a multi-year agreement to provide voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), data and Internet service through Intelsat’s Globalconnex managed network. Station 53 will use Intelsat’s Network Broadband Service to allow luxury yachts sailing in the Caribbean and in the Mediterranean high-speed broadband Internet access at throughputs higher than DSL connections.

Two networks, one apiece for Caribbean and Mediterranean connectivity, operate simultaneously as the luxury yachts migrate seasonally between regions every year. By serving both regions on a single satellite, Intelsat provides Station 53 with a bundled solution simplifying the seasonal transition from one ocean region to another.

Sean Farrell, president of Station 53, said his company’s clientele "demand always-on connectivity whether for work, recreational or safety reasons," and noted that Station 53 previously operated "on multiple networks with multiple service providers, limiting our ability to fully manage our network."

Mark Rasmussen, Intelsat’s vice president of North American Network Solutions, added "the yachting community will now have the luxury of surfing the Internet, calling home via VoIP or running their businesses from the comfort of their own boats whenever they’re sailing in these regions."

According to Station 53, for years the top speed was 64 kilobits per second (Kbps), and "the charges were higher than their satellites." Station 53 will also offer VoIP for telephone service to save yachters money on Inmarsat or GSM calls.

Intelsat will provide the service from its Mountainside Teleport facility on the East Coast using the IS-905 satellite located at 335.5 degrees East.

Features include a transmission rate of up to 2,500 kbps for shore-to-vessel communications, up to 512 kbps for vessel-to-shore communications; IP access to the Internet and corporate networks enabling fast downloads of large data files and e-mail; unlimited data transfer allowance; high quality of service for voice calls through S53’s Committed Information Rate; easy stand-alone or network compatible installation and techniques that minimize weather-related performance degradation.

–J.J. McCoy