This recent story caught our eye: T-Mobile and Tampnet win 700MHz licences in the Netherlands for offshore 5G in the North Sea.

The license apparently permits 5G coverage over 700 MHz from twelve nautical miles offshore and the applications cited by the two companies are “to support 5G connectivity and digital services for oil, gas, and wind assets, as well as for the coast guard, local fishing industry, and also for leisure activity”.

We covered 5G and its role in connecting offshore oil and gas operations in a previous blog. According to Frost and Sullivan, the key 5G user cases for the oil and gas industry will be for:

• Video surveillance and analytics: self-explanatory and increasingly sophisticated;

• Mega campus management including diagnostics, maintenance, training and employee productivity;

• Remote control and management of machines: the use of drones, cranes and robot arms;

• Cloud Robotics and Process Automation: to simplify processes, increase efficiency and eliminate human errors.

The Telecom26 Offshore maritime cellular communications Offering

The T-Mobile/Tampnet license apparently permits 5G coverage over 700 MHz from twelve nautical miles offshore. From being the key word as most modern onshore cellular networks can reach that far out.

Telecom26 uses this cellular coverage to provide maritime connectivity to individual boats and oil rigs complementing it with satellite where necessary. Continuous connectivity is rarely needed which is why the offshore 5G network being proposed is quite puzzling.

We can fully customise our offering for digital services, and IoT device data management as well as P2P communication for crew and visitors, something that is often an afterthought for ship owners and operators.

Our star performers are:

• Our Multi-IMSI global SIM cards enable access to multiple networks both in-country and across borders and remove the need for anyone to have to worry about the coverage of a single MNO, or the existence of roaming alliances. This means that when a vessel or oil rig is within 12 nautical miles of the shore, our global SIMs can access multiple terrestrial cellular networks using 2G, 3G or 4G radio - and pick the most appropriate network according to voice and data needs, and the network’s capabilities.

• Our advanced router which enables data transfer to be optimised accessing terrestrial networks when in range and satellite while at sea. It controls data transmission and chooses the optimum path - based on application - to make better use of the available backhaul and connectivity options.
• When a platform and/or vessel is outside terrestrial coverage, we can provide a maritime network.

We offer a full range of connectivity options including 5G, LTE, WiFi, NB-IoT, private networks, 2G, 3G and 4G, as well as offshore connectivity capabilities. The Telecom26 offering can combine both a full mobile private network at sea as well as a nearshore offering in order to provide contiguous mobile coverage at the lowest cost available.

To learn more about Telecom26’s suite of IoT maritime connectivity and maritime cellular communications services please get in touch.