For Sea Dogs - All the Bandwidth you need for a connected nomadic life at sea
19 February 2021

For Sea Dogs - All the Bandwidth you need for a connected nomadic life at sea

19 February 2021

Telecom26 provides maritime and nearshore connectivity to leisure yachts, fishing boats, cruise ships, tankers and cargo ships of all shapes, sizes and countries of origin.

If COVID lockdown has made you a little bit stir-crazy then this piece in Sailing Britican might inspire you. It lists 13 reasons why living on a boat in a marina is better than living in a house on land:

  1. You Can Move Your Boat & Live Anywhere
  2. People Around You Pay Millions For Your View
  3. The Cost Of Living On A Boat In A Marina Can Be Much Lower
  4. There Is Often A Wonderful Liveaboard Community
  5. Full-time Liveaboards Have Common Values
  6. Easy to meet new friends every week.
  7. Keeping Up With The Jones Isn’t A Thing
  8. Less Space = Less Stuff!
  9. Boaters Are Okay In A Flood!
  10. Can’t Beat The Wildlife
  11. Cleaning & Maintenance Are Drastically Reduced
  12. Time To Sell – Huge Marketplace Available
  13. Crime Rates Are Far Lower In Marinas Than On Housing Estates

However, until recently one major drawback of life at sea has been the cost and difficulty of securing reliable connectivity in a marina, in a remote harbour, hugging the coast, crossing borders - or further out to sea.

Connectivity at Sea

As most vessels tend to spend their time in-port or hugging the coast to shorten a journey, cellular can almost always be used for both voice and data.

And for boats travelling offshore, these days most cellular networks theoretically provide coverage up to 40km/25 miles out to sea (without a guaranteed QoS).

But cross-border connectivity has always been a problem.  Even more so these days with reliance on data for navigation, video calls, entertainment, emails etc.

Going ashore to buy domestic SIM cards, or looking through piles of previously-used SIMs, is a pain - and expensive.

With the specific goal of improving connectivity at sea - and in remote landlocked areas around the world, Telecom26 developed its Multi-IMSI global SIM cards which enable Global Roaming.

These enable one SIM to access multiple networks both in-country and across borders thus removing the need to worry about the coverage of a single MNO, or the existence of roaming alliances. 

Our nearshore LTE router maritime cellular solution enabled with our multi-IMSI SIM automatically select the best performing network in the area, cross-border, while providing users with the freedom to change SIM profiles and services with ease.

So all our sea dogs need is a Telecom26 SIM card and LTE router to provide always-on connectivity wherever they are in the world.

Our new Nearshore Connectivity Service - the ultimate in maritime connectivity

We are delighted to announce that, thanks to the hard work of Telecom26’s R&D team, we have been able to cut the cost of nearshore maritime connectivity for boats and ships of all sizes.

With rates as low as €2 per GB, and data bundles of up to 2.5TB, our service is now even more affordable - and optimised for all size ships and offshore infrastructure.

In addition to full data service, the service can also include:

  • Flexible SMS add-on bundles
  • Full-service management portal with all-plan options
  • VPN and Private APNs are available with all bundles on a monthly fee basis
  • All bundles come with unlimited, free access to Telecom26’s management portal
  • 12-month coverage protection options available to ensure service continuity without bill-shock

Telecom26 SIMs are compatible with 1100 cellular networks from over 620 mobile operators in more than 220 countries and territories which means that wherever your sea legs take you, we’ll be connecting you all the way.

To learn more about Telecom26’s suite of maritime including nearshore connectivity services please visit click here.

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