The use of video in the energy industry has grown by leaps and bounds over the last decade. Video images from remotely operated vehicles working beneath the ocean’s surface help engineers assess construction and repair projects on the sea floor are a good example. The video images collected by the vehicles are uplinked from the support vessel the vehicle is tethered to and delivered to offices, and with interest in HD video growing, larger and larger files will be delivered. In other cases, video also has replaced surveillance flights in the Gulf of Mexico after hurricanes. Before helicopters can begin ferrying workers back to rigs and platforms, fixed wing aircraft are contracted to survey the structural integrity of the heliports on offshore structures to insure they are safe to land on. Video cameras equipped with tilt, pan and zoom can now survey potential damage to a heliport on a rig or platform much faster than aerial surveys, which often take days or weeks due to the demand for aircraft.
    VLAN tagging allows satellite service providers to set up virtual LANs for the operator, drilling company and for service companies they both hire. “Depending on who the service company is working for, they will look either to the drilling company or the operator to provide connectivity for them to do their job,” says Keith Johnson, president of CapRock Global Energy Services. “In some cases, if the bandwidth requirement is large, the service company will contract for their own bandwidth. Communications technology has advanced to the point where it is easy to segregate the traffic, and we are seeing service companies get their own bandwidth much more frequently rather than relying on the operator or drilling company.” Johnson points out that Wi-Fi networks installed on rigs are becoming increasingly popular as the technology has improved. “Initially, there were challenges getting RF penetration into certain areas since rigs are all-steel structures. Now with WAPs (wide area access points) and smaller antennas, Wi-Fi is easier to deploy. Usually the larger areas, such as the galley and meeting rooms, are equipped first. This provides workers much more freedom, because they don’t have to go back to their rooms to plug into an Ethernet port. The deployment of Wi-Fi networks has also reduced cabling costs on a rig.”
    Stratos is implementing a Wi-Fi platform dubbed Stratos HotSpot to rigs and platforms in the Gulf of Mexico as part of the company’s StratosMAX II WiMax service deployment. The service provides platform workers with voice service, high-speed Internet connectivity, Wi-Fi service and a wide range of mobile communications applications. The IP-based StratosMAX II service is consistent with the high-bandwidth, low-latency features of Stratos’ microwave services and is competitively priced against VSAT and legacy radio technologies. Stratos is extending this service across the Gulf of Mexico over the next several months and will have coverage to more than 300 platforms, and more than 50 base stations by the end of May.
    Stratos provides Wi-Fi functionality to its customers’ remote locations using a network infrastructure that is separate from the customers’ network. It is separate from the point of Wi-Fi access on the platform, all the way back to the Stratos Internet backbone interfaces onshore in Louisiana, New York and Texas. “Remote professionals have become accustomed to using Wi-Fi services to work from home and from the road,” says George Head, Stratos senior vice president, broadband services. “Our goal is to provide offshore workers with that same ease of access and speed.”