‘FMC GlobalSat is a newcomer to the cruise industry. Founded in 2017, the satellite and wireless solutions provider did not start working with cruise lines until 2019. Clients include American Queen Steamboat Company.

“Our solution is open architecture. We integrate multiple networks, such as wireless, 4G, 5G, satellite and high throughput satellites. And now we have the right technology to be able to track the future LEO satellites. This is very exciting because this will change the dynamic in that industry completely,” Emmanuel Cortel, CEO of FMC GlobalSat, told Cruise Industry News.

“While LEO satellites will not be commercially available until 2022-2023, the performance (with LEOs,) is just insane, and the pricing is lower. They will disrupt the industry significantly,” Cortel added.

According to him, FMC GlobalSat is technically an MVNO – a mobile virtual network operator.

“We leverage wireless networks all over the world … so, we are going to converge satellite systems and wireless networks altogether. And that is basically our flagship product, which is now called 5G/LTSAT (long-term satellite),” he said.

To provide cruise ships with the right bandwidth scale-networking needs to be performed, according to Cortel.

“Scaling the network means you’re able to provide the bandwidth that meets the highest probability of the number of customers using the internet regarding the application that they use … we scale the satellite network based on the number of passengers. So, it ranges from dozens of megabits per second to hundreds of megabits of bandwidth on satellites,” he explained.

Network scaling and bandwidth optimization have become especially crucial as more people use Zoom, Facebook, and TikTok – regardless of their age, Cortel said.

A successful internet experience, according to Cortel, is when passengers don’t complain.

“The higher the available bandwidth is, the more the network is configured the proper way, the better the customer experience is going to be,” he said.