Panasonic Avionics, in cooperation with its subsidiary ITC Global, has secured a contract from Germany’s TUI Cruises to provide connectivity services for two new cruise ships, Mein Schiff 1 and Mein Schiff 2.
The four-year contract will enable both the guests and crew members on-board the two new TUI Cruises vessels to receive internet services when sailing across international waters.
Under the deal, Panasonic and ITC Global will equip both the ships with 2.4m multi-band antenna systems to deliver high levels of bandwidth to meet the connectivity demands of more than 3,000 guests and crew members on-board.
Installation and commissioning of the system on Mein Schiff 1 were finalised in March. The ship had already completed its first voyage in May.
Construction of Mein Schiff 2 is currently going on at Meyer Turku shipyard in Finland, with delivery scheduled in March.
Panasonic Avionics Global Network Operations senior vice-president and ITC Global CEO Ian Dawkins said: “Our job is to manage all aspects of the communications solution so that TUI Cruises is focused on what they do best – creating a memorable guest experience on-board.
“We take this responsibility seriously and look forward to continuing to work closely with the customer in delivering the advanced technologies required to make this possible.”
Panasonic and ITC Global’s connectivity services are provided by traditional geosynchronous satellites and are expected to be served by point-to-point, microwave and other technologies in future.
The services are based on Panasonic’s third-generation communications network, as well as high-throughput satellite (HTS) coverage paired with new modem technology.
They also comprise round the clock service monitoring and support from ITC Global’s Network Operations Center.
