The Challenge:
Oil rigs are notoriously known for their isolation. Since they are in the middle of nowhere, mainstream Telcos do not find it economic to operate in such locations as there is no population. As such, Satellite Communication has become the norm. However, due to space constraints on the rig and the costs involved, small footprints antennas are preferable and the best available solution is based on using the Ku band, which unfortunately is very highly susceptible to fades during inclement weather especially heavy rainfall. The Niger Delta is notorious for tropical rainfalls, which occur for more than 6 months in a year, thus necessitating a proven technology that solves the Ku band rain fade problems.
The Solution:
Upland leveraged the STM (www.stmi.com) solution to solve the problem using a versatile, small footprint Ku band VSAT, which has now been deployed for a number of years now with over 99.9% availability. With a 1.2m VSAT antenna, deployable in four hours, communication to these isolated rigs can be set up. Once the link is up, it is used to carry, data-, voice-, and video-traffic.
Upland's innovative VSAT solutions have also been used to provide broadband connectivity to floating rig platforms (FPSO). Components from different manufacturers have been integrated into best of breed
solutions to provide broadband connections between FPSOs and the on-shore control center. Components integrated include stabilized antennas and satellite modems.
The same solution has been adapted and deployed on emergency response vehicles.