Broadband Maritime VSAT Flat Rate versus Pay-by-the-Byte Services

2way2sat Broadband Maritime VSAT services are offered for a flat monthly fee. MSS are pay-by-the-Byte / -Minute systems, i.e. the height of the monthly invoice depends on the consumed air time.

The following features differentiate 2way2sat Broadband Maritime VSAT from existing Maritime Satellite Services (MSS) with lower bandwidth solutions:

	Pay by the Byte MSS	Fixed price Broadband VSAT
Services /  Vendors	Fleet Broadband / Inmarsat OpenPort®/ Iridium	Many differentiated services /  More Vendors
Coverage	Global coverage (Inmarsat excluding polar regions)	Regional coverage and coverage of major international shipping routes
Speed	Low, typically 9.6-128 kbps (OpenPort®)  / up to 256 kbps CIR / 432 shared) (FleetBroadband), higher speed technically not possible	High, typically from 256 kbps to 2048 kbps, higher speed only depending on available budget
Voice	1 Line (Inmarsat) 3 Lines (Iridium)	One, several or many lines, depending on chosen service
One-time investment (CAPEX)	Low, typically $ 5,000	High, typically $ 60,000
Operating expenses (OPEX)	High, air-time costs rising rapidly with consumption	Low, air-time costs independent of consumption

Pay-by-the-byte services can certainly meet basic voice and telecommunications requirements. However, they are not cost effective in applications such as web surfing, streaming video, or transmission of e-mail attachments larger than a few hundred kilobyte. Pay-by-the-byte services are suitable for voice, e-mail, SMS, transmission of low resolution pictures and small files. When using bandwidth saving protocols like SSH they can also be used for remote management of PCs and IT infrastructure onboard.

However, whoever plans to give crew members or passengers of ferries and cruisers access to the Internet definitely needs a fixed priced broadband VSAT service. This is one of the reasons why demand for atrexx’ 2way2sat Broadband Maritime VSAT services is rising rapidly.