Speedcast International Ltd, the most trusted provider of remote communication and IT solutions in the world, announced the company had successfully delivered 3.174 Gbps satellite bandwidth onboard Carnival's newest mega ship, Carnival Horizon. The transformative Internet experience follows the successes first enabled on Carnival Vista, which has been boasting the high-bandwidth Internet solution for more than 6 months.
Initially, the unparalleled data rate was achieved at Carnival Horizon naming ceremony held on May 23, 2018 in New York harbor. The solution uses bandwidth that is "best of breed" from multiple satellite operators, leveraging both Intelsat and Telesat. The approach consists of choosing the best satellites in terms of power, coverage and look angle, of which the latest high-throughput satellites with beams designed for maritime applications, to deliver land-like connectivity experience.
Carnival and Speedcast collaborated to create the first ever fully-integrated solution in cruise industry that is unique to Carnival and combines blockage-free connectivity via the newest and most powerful Intellian antennas, leveraging frequency spectrums across C-, Ku-, Ka-Band. Utilizing multiple frequencies based on ship location, bandwidth availability, satellite coverage and weather conditions provides enhanced optimization, and allows all passengers and crew to have simultaneous access to all available links at all times. The traffic is routed via Speedcast's global MPLS network and reaches its final destination with minimal latency.
Speedcast 24/7 Network Operations Centers, that support connectivity to approx 70% of all cruise passengers around the globe, monitor the entire network.
Carnival Cruise Line is currently working on plans for rollout of the connectivity solution throughout company's entire fleet.