US-based Wheat International is looking at delivering high-speed Internet access to a market covering four-fifths of the surface of the globe, although it is one that has so far largely been ignored by established network carriers.
Reuters reports that Forrest Wheat, the company`s owner, aims to deliver ship-to-shore access that will put the leisurely yachter, cruise ship passenger and sailors from merchant ships and fishing fleets on the Internet grid.
His year-old service, TeleSea, has tossed a line to US coastal waterways - it currently operates off both US coasts - and eventually aims to encircle the globe.
"This service is going places where WiFi really hasn`t gone before," says Brownlee Thomas, a telecommunications analyst with market forecaster Forrester Research, based in Montreal.
The company has set up a network of radio antennas more than 200-feet high along the coast, allowing WiFi signals to travel unobstructed for 50km or more, until the curvature of the Earth intervenes.
TeleSea offers unlimited Internet access for a flat, monthly fee at speeds of up to 11Mbps, or 200 times faster than access via a basic dial-up phone connection. Wheat is also contracting with service provider SES Americom to deliver deep-sea services via satellite link-up.
Satellite signals are capable of offering Internet-based voice calling or video delivery services, and the signals can be subdivided on ocean-going vessels to allow crew to share access to available bandwidth, much like office workers share capacity on a department computer network.
Additional satellites to be launched by SES will extend the reach of Wheat`s services farther into the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific, the Mediterranean Sea and other bodies of water.
Related articles:
Making the business case for WiFi
Wireless: The end of the world as we know it
Share
