With Offshore Communications 2009 in the rear-view mirror, its time to look ahead to 2010 and try to figure out what role satellite will play in the maritime, shipping and oil and gas enterprise sector in the new year.
    I think we can all agree that business conversations were dominated by the economic crisis in 2009 and the year served as a way to deal with the shock. So, almost everything about satellite communications – technology, network efficiency, funding for new projects, etc. – was designed around tight budget and cautious business models. I think 2010 is going to be a year of new ideas and recovery.
   While the recession is far from over, the shock has worn off. The satellite sector will now be looking for new ideas to build on the momentum of its recent gains. I think this is going to produce smaller, cheaper satellite terminals requiring minimal installation (much like the popular ‘plug-and-play’ method that drove the PC market in the mid-90s). Less expensive terminals lead to a more expansive customer base, which leads to expanding global coverage.   
    For the maritime sector, the end result is more options and simpler networks at lower cost. As the satellite industry’s investment in bandwidth efficiency kicks in and finds its way into the product stream, there will be fewer and fewer excuses to ignore satellite as an effective and viable solution for offshore communications.