e3 July Article

Technology Update

By the time you read this, we will probably know the results of the battles being fought between the EURO 2016 competitors both inside and outside the stadia of France. And we should also know the result of the bitter and increasingly personal battle between both sides of the Brexit debate in the UK.  In addition to those highly publicized examples of disharmony in Europe, there are also heated discussions amongst mobile phone operators over the forthcoming abolition of roaming charges in Europe.

Canal du MidiEU Roaming Progress

A recent EC consultation found differing perceptions amongst operators about how effectively the wholesale market for roaming is working, and how it will work by the deadline next year on 15th June 2017 when European roaming is to be terminated.  With less than a year to go, there are still a lot of disagreements between the large and small operators.

The European Commission intends to publish its wholesale roaming review and any legislative proposals, not later than 15th June this year, to enable sufficient time for the whole process to be completed with the European Parliament and Council by the 15th June 2017 deadline.

  

I believe the final legislation will be beset with a multitude of restrictions.  I am guessing there  will be limitations such as only being able to roam at your home operator rates for a short period, such as a couple of weeks, to allow for the typical holiday or business trip, but not for users to purchase a cheap pay-as-you-go contract in one country and use it full time in another.

Despite this, European Wide Roaming Free 3G and 4G SIM is available now.

Last month I mentioned our recently launched new European Roaming Free SIM that is a year ahead of the potential legislation and is working well here already this summer.

We launched it just a month ago and it is being taken up fast.  In a month we have over 50 yachts using it, and it works on 3G and 4G around the whole of the Med, the rest of Europe and Turkey at considerably reduced prices, with up to 1 TByte of data per month.  Set it up once for the summer, and leave it. No need to change SIM cards or any settings.  Upgrade or downgrade the monthly data allowance as required.

A simple Portable Hotspot using our new Roaming Free SIM card

Last month I took a week’s break to cruise long the canal du Midi, travelling through a bucolic French landscape at a leisurely pace, and sampling the joys of French wine and fantastic cuisine wherever possible.  Being unable to cut ties with the office for a whole week, I took the opportunity to test our new SIM card across rural France.  So I set up our canal boat (MY Eclipse!) as a hotspot using a Huawei Mobile wi-fi device, shown here, with our SIM card.  We set our phones, iPad and laptop on “wi-fi only” to see how we would get on for the week. I’m pleased to report that it didn’t miss a beat.  The hotspot roamed from SFR to Orange to Bougyes to Free and back, always finding the strongest signal as we crossed France.  We used WhatsApp voice and Facetime as well as the usual email, social networking, up and downloading photos and videos and radio streaming to listen to BBC News.

At the end of the week, we jumped back into the car, drove through the Pyrenees and back into Spain still just using wi-fi by transferring the hot-spot into the car. I now use it on my boat as well when we go out from Puerto Portals and continue logged onto the same wi-fi there.  It’s so simple, set it up once, just keep it charged, carry it with you and it just works!

The Huawei Mobile wi-fi device costs €100 and the SIM contract I selected was for 20GB/m at €130/m which only needs to be paid for month by month.  There isn’t a compulsory long term contract. My wife and I used about 3GB over a week.

From now on I intend to travel with this set-up as it works for business and family use everywhere in Europe and Turkey.  For those yachts that haven’t set themselves up yet for the summer this is a very simple solution to pull out of the bag to supplement anything you have on-board.

No need to leave or remain in the EU to do this

So, beat the EU Parliament to it and roam free personally by using our roaming free SIM with a little Mobile wi-fi device or a professional 3G/4G router or our e3.Unite aggregator on your yacht, and what’s more you don’t even have to make any decisions about leaving or staying in the EU!

We have installed the first Inmarsat Fleet Xpress system on S/Y Julietroyal-huisman-juliet-venice-w1203

You may have seen over the last couple of weeks a press release from Inmarsat announcing the installation we have undertaken on S/Y Juliet mentioned in my column last month. The press release starts of by saying:   

Inmarsat (LSE:ISAT.L), the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, has achieved the first commitment to its Fleet Xpress service by a superyacht owner just weeks after commercial launch in a deal secured through Inmarsat distributor e3 Systems.

And goes onto say:

“For those on board a superyacht, Fleet Xpress delivers an unprecedented level of voice and data connectivity afloat,” said Gerbrand Schalkwijk, Chief Sales Officer, Inmarsat Maritime. “Always-on bandwidth and data speeds that are well suited for S/Y Juliet´s unique sailing itinerary ensures that owner and crew will be able to connect wherever they are in the world. Vessel operations can also be ‘smart’, using continuously updated weather, chart, mooring, and machine monitoring data. Once taken up in this market, the bandwidth, accessibility from everywhere and reliability delivered by Fleet Xpress will simply become prerequisites.”

Fleet Xpress is ideally suited to sailing yachts who sail off the beaten track to less-travelled parts of the globe and, when combined with the small 60cm antennas, is better suited for sail boat rigs.

Marlink acquisition completed

On June 2nd the acquisition of the Business Communications unit including Marlink from Airbus Defence and Space was completed.  So all our satellite communications services that were known as Airbus are now under the new Marlink brand.

Superyacht Design Week Workshop

Unusually for a technologist, I will be speaking on a panel at the Superyacht Design Week with my colleague Håkan Olsson from Kymeta at the end of June at the Design Centre, Chelsea Harbour, London. Following a keynote address on “Yachts of the Future” on the Wednesday morning, the Workshop will be a deeper exploration of how the exterior design of superyachts will be affected by replacing current dome antennas with flat panel satellite antennas.  It should be an interesting few days, and I would recommend it to anyone.  Check out  www.superyachtdesignweek.com

Roger Horner of e3 Systems

For further information on any of the above, please contact us.

email on info@e3s.com , Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin and web www.e3s.com

Tel: +34 971 404 208

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