Speedcast has extended its relationship with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines (RCCL) to increase the bandwidth available to RCCL’s 37 ships using Speedcast’s VSAT services.

Iridium has confirmed the names of the initial maritime launch partners for its next generation Certus L-band satellite service, with Marlink, Speedcast, Applied Satellite Technologies Ltd (AST) and Satcom Global the first four companies appointed as global resellers, while Arion will act as a regional partner focusing on the Asian market.

Speedcast has announced the release of CrewReach, a new global prepaid mobile SIM card designed to be used by ships’ crew members and provide cost-effective access to 4G and 3G data.

Speedcast has announced a strategic alliance with SRH Marine to add SRH’s maritime navigation and electronics products alongside Speedcast’s satcom portfolio to create integrated shipboard system packages delivered by a single supplier.

Speedcast has launched SIGMA Gateway Xtreme, a new network management device capable of controlling Speedcast’s Ku-band VSAT services, Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress and 4G/LTE services, to offer redundancy in communications links alongside virtual machine capabilities.

Speedcast has introduced a new global near-shore, data-only 4G/LTE GSM connectivity system called GO4SPEED, aimed at the maritime and energy markets, as well as a new at-sea television service called Speedcast TV On Demand.

Speedcast and Danaos Peripherals have announced a strategic alliance under which the two companies will work together in offering new vessel IT packages combining Speedcast communication systems with application management technology developed by Danaos.

UK-based Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has agreed a deal with Speedcast to provide end-to-end communication services on board its fleet of four cruise ships, including VSAT and land-based 4G/LTE connectivity.

Speedcast has increased its Fleet Xpress installation targets by adding more than 350 ships to its previous commitment to bring approximately 2,000 vessels on to the service by 2021, targeting the energy, cruise and leisure markets in particular.

Speedcast has signed an agreement with government satellite connectivity provider COMSAT to establish a common global service offering of Ku-band VSAT services for both the government and maritime markets.