SpeedCast International Limited (ASX: SDA) really keeps folks connected. This past year, 2016 has proven to be a most successful year as they supplied an unprecedented amount of data and voice connectivity, a total of 5.5 Gbps in 2016, to its cruise fleet customers as the launch of new, larger ships with thousands of guests and crew continues to drive consumption. Bandwidth requirements have spiked due to the increasing adoption of newer data intensive applications.  Additionally, they are anticipating a strong double digit growth expected in 2017.

Onboard events are streamed back to shore by both guests and crew as uplinked content bandwidth requirements are moving closer to their downlink counterparts. The highest consuming ships are using multiple terabytes of data per month.  In addition, with the number of connected devices per person growing, the demand for bandwidth will continue to surge in 2017. 

We realize that reliable high speed connectivity increases passenger satisfaction and the more speed we can provide, the better,” said Cynthia Gillis, VP Cruise, SpeedCast.  “We were the first communications company to provide 100 Mbps to a single cruise ship and now, thanks to our customers, we are providing a record amount of bandwidth.”

http://www.speedcast.com/industries/maritime/cruise-ships-and-ferries/