By
Alex Smith |
Communications and IT services provider Speedcast has significantly expanded its unified global platform, adding an additional 13 gigabytes per second (Gbps) to its network.
Speedcast completed the upgrade over a five-week period in April and May and expanded its ground network to include the addition of a new teleport to support the added capacity, enabling access to a broader range of satellite infrastructure.
The company operates one of the largest technology agnostic networks in the world, which now includes 30 Gbps of total bandwidth. The size of Speedcast’s network has now surpassed its 2020 pre-pandemic level, due in part to the return to service by the cruise industry. Around 350 ships and over 550,000 berths are in service globally, with 51 ships scheduled to be added during May.
“The fast ramp-up of capacity Speedcast achieved really shows the power of software-defined networks,” said Joe Spytek, CEO at Speedcast. “We’re able to deliver on the concept of ubiquitous connectivity to a remote site for the best user experience. We’re incorporating all available technologies and network options – multi-path and multi-orbit – to offer the most cost-effective connectivity solutions with the highest levels of availability and flexibility. Being technology-agnostic, we can also shield the customer from the risks of technology obsolescence and loss of service that come with dependence on a specific network.”
Speedcast also recently announced that it will integrate low Earth orbit connectivity into its UGP as an official Distribution Partner to OneWeb. Customer demonstrations and trials of the low latency solution are due to begin next month.