“The need for data capacity is constantly increasing and the combination of sufficient reach and high capacity is a challenge," said Kenneth Påvall, IT infrastructure manager at Rederi AB Eckerö. "We have now chosen the solution that we believe will provide the best capacity. The projects have run smoothly and we are approaching our goal of having a stable and fast broadband to all passenger ships in our fleet. Cost-effectiveness is important and the fact that vessels operate on routes where other shipping companies also have the same interest in fast broadband is an advantage.”
The shipping company Rederi AB Eckerö has used the Nowhere Networks radiolink technology for approximately a year on the line between Grisslehamn and Mariehamn. After a short while it decided to expand the solution to cover all passenger ships in its fleet.
As costs drop for high-speed communications on ships, demand grows.
“The demand for safe and cost-effective broadband is enormous. This is a breakthrough that now makes it possible to work, surf and manage social media the same as on land. We build broadband capacity on ships at a level that nobody had thought was possible,” says Asbjörn Frydenlund, CEO of Nowhere Networks. “This is just the beginning. By the end of the year we will cover traffic to Turku, Riga and Oskarshamn. At the current rate, we will have digitalized the entire Baltic Sea by the end of year 2020. This means that ships and travelers can be fully connected at the same speed and with the same stability as on mainland.”
Nowhere Networks started year 2017 with the idea of creating a radio link system for ships that would reach over 50 km from the coast with the highest possible capacity and which could be scaled up through normal sales and distribution.
“We quickly realized that the need in the market was much broader than that of normal sales and distribution. Therefore, a year ago, we decided to make life better for our customers by creating a full service concept. This includes installation, mast rent, operation, internet, and everything else required for the vessels to handle today's customers who require constant connection and also the vessels IT operations increasing need for more broadband ” says CG Sänne, vice president and sales manager.