By Tom Westbrook SYDNEY, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The South Pacific nation of Tonga has been all but cut off from the internet this week after an undersea cable connecting the archipelago to the wider world was severed twice on Sunday, throwing communications across the tiny and isolated country into chaos. The outage, which the cable's owner said may have been caused by a ship's … [Read more...]
Google Nexus 7 Ad Strikes Familiar Chord
Check out this new commercial released by Google UK for their Nexus 7 tablet, featuring a homesick engineer perk up when he is able to video chat with his family back home on Christmas. There's no doubt that the commercial strikes a familiar chord amongst those who are away at sea during the holiday season. Unfortunately, for most the reality of the situation can be … [Read more...]
Swire Pacific’s Fleet Gets Unlimited Internet Access
Swire Pacific Offshore (SPO), a Singapore-based leading service provider to the offshore oil and gas industry, is upgrading to Inmarsat’s FleetBroadband (FB) Unlimited plan. The “all-you-can-eat” service will be provided on 65 of SPO’s vessels by Inmarsat partner Station711, the mobile satellite arm of RRsat Global Communications Network Ltd (NASDAQ: … [Read more...]
At-Sea Internet with Frickin’ Laser Beams
gCaptain readers struggling with slow internet connectivity at sea will be excited by recent news from the Virginia-based company Laser Light. The company is planning to launch the world's first commercial satellite communications constellation based entirely on optical wave (laser) technology. The planned constellation will consist of 12 laser-equipped satellites (8 … [Read more...]
350Mbps VSAT Service Announced Aboard World’s Largest Cruise Ship
O3b Networks today announced a milestone multi-year, multi-million dollar agreement with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. to provide high-speed satellite-delivered broadband service aboard the world's largest cruise ship. By summer 2013, more than 8,000 guests, staff and crew members aboard the cruise industry leader's flagship Oasis of the Seas – under the Royal Caribbean … [Read more...]