INTERVIEW: RICK SIMONIANMaritime CommsRichard Simonian is the President of Maritime Solutions, a business unit within Harris CapRock Communications. MR picked his brain for insights on the shape and direction of maritime comms.By Greg Trauthwein, EditorWe understand that you recently un- gest technology driver which has al-Tube, where passengers can download from traditional MSS L-band service to veiled your Advanced VSAT solutions at lowed you to expand your business?or watch streaming video from their cab- always-on VSAT service, and a continu-Satellite 2014. Can you give us a brief ins. In “steady state” this is a challenging ing increase in average bandwidth con-on exactly what this is?problem to solve. sumption for each VSAT-equipped ship. IP convergence is the biggest Furthermore, what happens when the Two years ago a typical merchant ship change over the past 10 years that has The problem increasingly be- ship additionally has a special charter on would have a 64Kbps link. That has now changed the face of managed communi-ing faced by ship and rig operators is that part of the itinerary, a short-term need doubled and if the trend continues, that cation services. IP standardization has their communication needs are dynamic, for a video-teleconference to the crew, or will double again in the next two years. driven improvements in many areas that yet the traditional buying approach is a need to enable a telemedicine session In the passenger and leisure market, we have taken advantage of. The cost static. They have had two choices. First, for a passenger? the large ships are already equipped with of the telecom infrastructure required to pay for use on a per minute or per mega- Harris CapRock’s dynamic bandwidth VSAT and have more experience in using process and move traf? c from vessels to byte basis, which can lead to unpredict- management (dSCPC) architecture will always-on connections for guests, crew, corporate headquarters has reduced sig-able monthly costs that are dif? cult to provide the maximum bandwidth avail- and operations. But again the approach ni? cantly and reliability has increased manage, or second, sign up for a com- able, with signi? cantly more ? exibility to forecasting usage and budgeting for signi? cantly as we can now leverage mitted information rate for bandwidth, for short term changes. communications varies with different the huge investments from companies which provides ? at-rate predictable companies, whether the IT departments like Cisco, Riverbed, and Juniper. Be-costs but is dif? cult to change on short or the revenue departments hold the bud- ing able to move voice, video, and data We hear that the ability for communi-notice or for short periods of time. gets, and whether IT in general is seen as just different services within an IP cation providers are available to sig-Our customers are also looking for as a cost of doing business or a potential stream has simpli? ed the hardware ap-ni? cantly increase and enhance the on-bandwidth capacity increases and sup- competitive differentiator. More so than proach onboard, and moved the com-board experience of crew, passengers port for a variety of different voice, data, the shipping and supply vessel market, plexity back to the shore where skilled and for the purpose of business ef? -and video applications. the passenger vessel market is being network engineers can manage it more ciency, but that quite frankly shipown-Harris CapRock launched its Ad- overwhelmed with bandwidth demands cost-effectively. Constant IP connectiv-ers are simply too cheap to buy in. Is vanced VSAT platform at Satellite 2014. from guests who are looking for a hotel- ity expectations of passengers and crew this what you hear, and if so, how are By partnering with equipment providers like experience at sea. This is in addi- are due to incredibly powerful phones you positioned to rebut? and making technology investments, tion to the drive for ECDIS, operational and tablets that provide a multitude we have developed a dynamic network It’s very interesting, in working connectivity to all elements onboard, of IP-enabled functions. On the ships, architecture that provides a secure, cost- with different clients, to hear how they and crew welfare. Doing simple math we’re seeing an increasing trend where effective way to allocate and recon? gure treat their spend on communications and would say that a cruise ship with 1,500 every electronic device and even many bandwidth dynamically based on chang- more broadly on IT. The merchant ship- guests and 600 crew ought to have a link currently non-electronic devices are be-ing operational requirements. This al- ping industry is still recovering from a over 20Mbps. With WAN optimization coming IP enabled, sending their health lows us to deliver better ef? ciencies and very brutal period of overcapacity and applied, that amount of bandwidth can and status back to ship owners shoreside, resiliency, while improving network per- necessary cost cutting coupled with new deliver a service that is somewhat ac- allowing them to deliver greater opera-formance and reducing ? eld site visits. fuel regulations. Many are just trying to ceptable to the percentage of people try- tional ef? ciencies for the ? eet, and driv-(In short) real-time bandwidth upgrade survive for now and are not interested ing to connect at any one time. But it’s ing the business case for increased and requests will become easier and more ef- in anything but spending the bare mini- a big change from the current average more reliable communication links.? cient. mum on IT. Certain customers, how- of 2Mbps! The higher capacities, with Competitively, how do you measure and For example, imagine 4,000 passen- ever, are seeing a market discriminator support for unique high-priority services differentiate your company, your ser-gers onboard a cruise ship – each with if they invest in IT, as this will provide within the link, is the kind of solutions vices against others.multiple communications devices, post- them with a more stable, safe, and better that Harris now offers.ing, pinning and journaling their vaca- trained crew, better operational ef? cien-tions on social media to everyone back cies, and better services that they can in We measure ourselves with The communications business, on land home. turn offer their clients. But overall in typical metrics such as market share and at sea, has gone through a tremen-Imagine the rising demand for enter- the shipping and service/supply vessel within each of the segments we serve, dous transformation over the past two tainment sites, such as Net? ix and You- market, we see a continuing changeover customer satisfaction, and renewal rates. decades. What do you count as the big-24 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • JUNE 2014MR #6 (18-25).indd 24 5/28/2014 12:14:19 PM