One of the key challenges that has affected the adoption of communications technology offshore is the lack of mobile networks and lack of coverage, making instant communication difficult. Statoil and teaming up with MCP to face this challenge and gain a competitive edge in the North Sea.
Thanks to a deal with Statoil, Maritime Communications Partner (MCP) have started to build the world’s largest and most comprehensive 4G network at sea. They will begin constructing the network immediately which will connect all 34 platforms Statoil currently operate in the North Sea, proving vastly improved communications to their entire workforce.
This is being seen as a big step forward in terms of offshore communication technology and will enable workers on the platforms to communicate with each other much more effectively than was previously possible. As described by MCP’s CEO, Frode Støldal, “A state of the art high speed 4G network will facilitate even more innovation and efficiency improvement in the oil and gas industry”.
With a state of the art network, Statoil will benefit from industry leading levels of connectivity, therefore enabling their workers to communicate data in real-time with the assistance of some of the industries leading mobile devices. With the introduction of smartphones, tablets and handheld computers that can be used in hazardous areas such as oil and gas platforms, many oil and gas companies are looking at ways to roll out this technology and the introduction of 4G networking offshore is making this a reality.
Click here to read more about MCP’s 4G network.