An offshore wind farm. Photo: Wikipedia

OneWeb has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Tampnet to conduct service trials in 2022 to test OneWeb’s low latency connectivity in an offshore energy environment. Under the agreement announced Wednesday, the trials will initially focus on delivering services to offshore wind farms, rigs, and platforms in the North Sea in the first quarter of 2022 and in the Gulf of Mexico, later in 2022. 

Tampnet offers a communication network for offshore customers with subsea fiber, microwave, and LTE. Tampnet CCO said OneWeb’s Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) can allow Tampnet to provide faster geographic expansion, LTE backhaul, and backup solutions for existing clients. 

“LEO services as a technology complements the Tampnet business model, particularly in terms of faster geographic expansion, LTE backhaul, and useable backup solutions for existing clients,” Tampnet CCO Trygve Hagevik said in a statement. “Partnering with a pioneer such as OneWeb, reflects our ambitions towards responding to our customers’ requests and supporting the transformational impact that LEO technology can make towards increasing our footprint and our customers’ operational performance.”