On the high seas, Altobridge’s Split Architecture offers officers and crew the ability to make and receive calls and SMS messages at very affordable prices, wherever they are on the world’s oceans. They can do so in private away from the bridge, using their own personal mobile handsets.

The Altobridge solution – now available through Blue Ocean Wireless – creates an onboard wireless network ‘at the end of the satellite link’ and mobile phones onboard are brought back into the international mobile communications network. Blue Ocean Wireless issues pre-paid SIM cards which can be topped up in a number of ways. Voice & SMS will enable real-time, two-way communication for all crew. This will have a significant impact on quality of life onboard, particularly for merchant seafarers who are spending more and more time at sea as a result of new security procedures.

GSM Operators, Satellite Service Providers, Ship Owners and Operators can now establish a working business model, which provides crew with cost-effective communications and which meets the underlying Return On Investment (ROI) of the all parties. A further underlying strength of the Split Architecture in the maritime sector is its ability to operate over alternative satellite bearers. Once installed, crew simply insert a Blue Ocean Wireless pre-paid SIM card and can use the service at will, though availability always remains at the discretion of, and fully within, the captain’s control at all times.

Container Tracking

A further maritime application of the Altobridge Split Architecture, and again available through Blue Ocean Wireless, is the tracking of container goods at sea. This low-cost asset tracking and management functionality uses the same technology available to provide crew calling and allows vital data such as geographic co-ordinates, e-Seal tampering and container temperature fluctuations to be reported in real time to the ship’s master, to a land-based operations centre or to both simultaneously, eliminating the risk of damaged goods at sea.

Business research consultancy leader, Frost & Sullivan awarded its 2006 Technology Innovation Award in the area of container security to Altobridge, describing the solution as: “the most innovative communications technology that enabled continuous, effective communications between land, ports and seagoing vessels.”

Blue Ocean Wireless is a joint venture between Altobridge and private investment firm Claret Capital. Its biggest shareholders are Smart Communications, the Philippines’ leading mobile telecoms company, NTT Docomo, the world’s leading mobile communications company, and Bank of Scotland, Ireland.

For more information please contact: www.blueoceanwireless.com.