O&G use of Inmarsat and Iridium satcoms increasing
Feature Articles, May  29  2009 (Digital Energy Journal)

- The oil and gas industry is increasingly using Inmarsat and Iridium satellite communications solutions, which can offer more flexibility than VSAT, and more reliability than GSM and Microwave, says Eric Verheylewegen, VP Commercial Sales, Americas with mobile satellite communications company Vizada.

If you want to send a large amount of data and make phone calls by satellite, from the same location on land or sea, then you will probably go for VSAT satellite communications.

But for everyone else – Inmarsat and Iridium are offering an increasingly attractive solution, says Eric Verheylewegen, VP of Commercial Sales North America with mobile satellite communications company Vizada.

Both Inmarsat and Iridium have recently launched new services which offer higher bandwidth and lower costs than services previously on offer, with high flexibility and reliable connectivity, he says.

Inmarsat recently launched its FleetBroadband service, which can be used anywhere in the world, to carry voice and data at speeds up to 432 kilobits per second, costing below $16 per megabyte.

The hardware can cost as little as $6,000 for the FleetBroadband 150 service (although that will only give you 150 kbps – for the 432 kbps you will need a 600mm diameter FleetBroadband 500 terminal).

Iridium recently launched its OpenPort service, which can offer data communications of up to 128 kbps and 3 simultaneous phone calls. The hardware costs under $6,000.

The price of phone calls for both Iridium and Inmarsat varies if you commit yourself to buying large amounts of minutes and data, with a ballpark price of around $1 a minute for both.

Mr Verheylewegen says that Iridium OpenPort is proving particularly popular for crew use on drilling rigs, because it can carry 3 phone calls at once. “We just concluded a sale for a large amount of Iridium OpenPort on drilling rigs,” he says.

Not tied in

VSAT communications will typically require that a customer contracts for a certain amount of bandwidth for 2-3 years in a certain location, which is typically shared with a number of other customers, he says.

There is no provision if you suddenly want to move the rig or vessel to another part of the world, put the system out of action for a short while (eg if the rig is laid up), or if you need guaranteed bandwidth for a short amount of time (eg to make a videoconference or important phone call).

However with Inmarsat and Iridium, you can do whatever you want, he says. The pricing is the same wherever in the world you are, and it works automatically in different parts of the world, with no equipment reconfiguration required.

On Inmarsat, you can have guaranteed bandwidth of up to 256 kbps whenever you want.

It can be easier for contractors to gain access to satellite communications on Inmarsat and Iridium. they can be billed independently of the main operator of the system, either by invoice or by pre-paid card. Their communications will not interfere with the main company communications.

Vizada recently did a deal with a Brazilian service company, where “one of the requirements was for them to go onboard and set up their own satcoms,” he says.

Vizada offers a range of different services to help vessel operators manage crew calling – enabling seafarers to buy pre-paid calling cards to pay for their satellite phone calls, so the vessel operator does not need to get involved in billing.

“We have a series of sub-accounts – so someone can come onboard and open an account – send and receive e-mail, fax, and by the time they leave the rig – either everything has been done pre-paid – or the rig manager can just present them with a bill – so we can present people with the ability to pay for what they use,” he says.

Meanwhile, some mobile drilling rigs are increasingly moving to Inmarsat FleetBroadband and Iridium instead of microwave and GSM solutions, for both crew personal and company operational communications, because they find it to be a more reliable service at a similar price, he says.

Vizada

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