Long-distance voyagers are invited to witness the first U.S. demonstration of the next generation of marine satellite communication on Thursday, April 11. The unveiling of Nera F77 will be during a cocktail/hors doeuvres reception in the St. Thomas Pavilion of the Volvo Ocean Race Village behind the AmericanAirlines Arena, 601 Biscayne Boulevard, Miami, FL 33132. The Volvo Ocean Race, currently circumnavigating the world, will be docked at the boat slips flanking the American Airlines Arena from March 27 through April 14.
What is Nera F77? Imagine having an office on the water–fully equipped with high-speed online capability, access to video conferencing and e-mail. Nera F77, billed as a “revolutionary” new satellite capability by its developer, enables vessels at sea to communicate worldwide like offices on land.
Nera ASA*, developer of this new capability, has been providing maritime satellite communications throughout the worlds oceans for 25 years. Yachts competing in this years Volvo Ocean Race are outfitted with a previous version of this capability, allowing the teams to not only communicate with themselves and race officials, but also to download weather conditions and other maritime information from the Internet. Nera ASA* is one of the sponsors of Djuice Dragons, a competitor in the event.
With Nera F77, ships at sea will have access to the communication tools associated with everyday business on land. The Nera F77 terminal uses the worlds first global maritime Mobile Packet Data Service (MDPS),which gives a ship online access to a whole range of applications like the Internet and e-mail. The beauty of this service is that the user can always be logged on while only having to pay for the data transmitted, not for the time connected.
Users can have access to ship/shore logistics system 24 hours a day. The Nera F77 package also includes high-speed ISDN at a 64 KBps, which permits first data transfer. Voyagers, ocean racers, fisherman, and crew and passengers aboard cargo and cruise ships will no longer need to dock to conduct business efficiently.
For more information on the Nera F77 launch, product details, or for directions to the event, contact Lourdes Hernandez at (305) 347-4371 or Abril Barba at (305) 347-4345, e-mail abril_barba@mia.bm.com.
