Your Future: Never out of Touch - cont'd

By Tariq Malik


Online by land or sea

Accessing the Internet via a satellite connection to homes and offices on the ground is nothing new. Companies have been providing the service for years, but it has traditionally been costly and limited to computers on dry land. For Internet junkies aboard ocean liners, logging on is a bit more challenging.

One solution is TeleSea Blue, developed by Virginia-based Wheat Wireless Services. It uses satellites to provide high-speed Internet connections for oceangoing vessels or other sea-based concerns. An antenna on the vessel receives signals from satellites in geosynchronous orbit, which sit in a fixed relative position above the planet by orbiting at the same speed Earth rotates.

The satellites broadcast down to an ocean area called a "footprint," where the signal is then picked up by a server aboard a vessel accessible to anyone with Wi-Fi capability. Wi-Fi, short for wireless fidelity, allows computers to send and receive signals without a physical connection to the Internet.

"We knew there was a need and requirement for high-speed communication and point-to-point video," said Forrest Wheat, president and CEO of Wheat International Communications, the parent company for Wheat Wireless and TeleSea.

Commercial cruise lines, factory ships and off-shore oil rigs are just some of customers that need consistent Internet telecommunications to remain connected with onshore contacts, Wheat told SPACE.com. TeleSea also targets large private vessels such as corporate yachts and freight lines. There is also a military interest too, since the satellites can also provide online access for U.S. Navy personnel at sea.

Currently the system covers the Caribbean and areas of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. By the end of 2004, satellite service should also be available in the waters around Hawaii, Asia, South America and the Mediterranean.

Sea-based Internet access is expensive. Monthly access and hardware costs exceed $1,000 in the first year. Less expensive -- and more limited -- versions are available in TeleSea Gold, Wheat's coastal service that enables broadband access for vessel up to 30 miles (48 kilometers) offshore, and TeleSea Marina for vessels docked in participating ports.