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Speedcast to Deploy Newtec’s Dialog® Platform

ST Engineering iDirect has announced that Speedcast will deploy the Newtec Dialog® platform to provide worldwide satellite broadband services for the firm's customers.
 
The deployment will enable Speedcast to respond to the exponential demand for high-speed connectivity on board cruise ships and may also be used for other vertical market segments with increasing bandwidth requirements, such as yachting, oil and gas and the enterprise market. This builds upon the long-term partnership that has been forged between ST Engineering iDirect and Speedcast, supporting mission-critical communications in the world’s most remote regions.
The cruise market remains the biggest user of maritime SATCOM and is driving the sector with its increasing demand for connectivity. Cruise ships are essentially floating cities, and passengers and crew wish to experience the same connectivity at sea as at home. This supports the multiple devices that they have to keep in touch on social media and for their online entertainment needs. More essentially, connectivity brings about a plethora of operational benefits for operators, enabling them to manage their fleets and crew more effectively.

Dialog can be used as a single and multi-service VSAT platform that allows operators and service providers to build and adapt superior infrastructure and satellite networking according to their business or missions. It gives operators the power to offer a variety of mobile and fixed services on a single platform, all of which can be delivered to customers operating remotely.

PJ Beylier, CEO, Speedcast, said customers are increasingly faced with the need to deliver a seamless, high quality, high-speed connectivity experience, which drives significant growth in demand for Speedcast services. The company was looking for a technology platform that could meet the current and future bandwidth challenges but also that was versatile enough to be used across other market segments where the firm was seeing similar demands. The Dialog platform, with its high throughput and efficiency capabilities, allows Speedcast to deploy high-end services and is ultimately a natural extension of their existing Very Small Aperture Terminal (VSAT) network. The partnership with ST Engineering iDirect will enable them to deploy a unified platform for the cruise sector to drive network efficiencies and ultimately create a better customer experience. This world-class global maritime and offshore network will leverage the optimal satellite capacity over each region to deliver bandwidth to hundreds of cruise ships and yachts. This network will give Speedcast a competitive advantage and enable the firm to continue to support the growing connectivity demands of customers.

Thomas Van den Driessche, President of the Executive Strategic Board and CCO, added that ST Engineering iDirect will stay ahead in this highly competitive and increasingly digitalized market, fast where reliable connectivity is essential. The recent integration of ST Engineering iDirect and Newtec will ensure that Speedcast is able to maintain its lead in this high-value market with a forward-thinking, market-leading technology partner that will remain dedicated to protecting its investment across its entire VSAT network.