Xiplink™ delivers market leading connectivity solution to Irish Ferries
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[Source: Voyager IP]
Voyager IP’s client, Irish Ferries, a company in the Ferries Division of Irish Continental Group Plc (ICG), is the leading ferry operator to and from the Republic of Ireland. Irish Ferries operates multipurpose ferry services carrying both passengers and RoRo freight on strategic short sea routes between Ireland and Britain, Britain and France and direct ferry services between Ireland and France.
For Irish Ferries, higher bandwidth and always-on connectivity is critical in delivering a quality user experience for ferry passengers and crew all year round. However, the common challenges faced by satellite networks on passenger vessels include many simultaneous users, a high number of concurrent TCP sessions, high latency, and asymmetric connections.
To meet these challenges, Voyager IP recommended the market leading Xiplink™ end-to-end WAN optimiser solution alongside its existing KA VSAT service. Xiplink™ supports SCPS (Space Communications Protocols Specification), specifically targeted at accelerating satellite and wireless IP networks. It is ideal for clients in the maritime mobility sector requiring higher bandwidths and always-on connectivity.
A close collaboration was formed between Voyager IP, Telenor Satellite and ICG to manage the seamless integration of systems between the hub side and remote side. Following a successful trial on W.B. Yeats, the Xiplink service was extended to MV Ulysses in May 2022.
From the user perspective, the biggest benefit of the new Xiplink™ service is the substantially improved quality of experience enjoyed when accessing the internet. From the perspective of Irish Ferries, it also offers QoS data management, thus affording the most important connections the highest priority throughout.
Brian Short, Information Security Manager at Irish Continental Group, said “Managing the bandwidth demands of multiple data and voice services has been a challenge for Irish Ferries. The traffic management and bandwidth optimisation features offered by Xiplink have been instrumental in enhancing the onboard experience for our customers, while also protecting revenue-generating services. Our partnerships with Voyager IP and Telenor have been vital to the success of this project, and we look forward to working with them to further develop our use of Xiplink.”