MTN Launches Another Industry First with “OceanCast” High-Definition, Live Event Streaming from Ships

 MIRAMAR, Fla. – March 11, 2014 – In yet another industry first, MTN Communications (MTN) is launching “MTN OceanCast.”  MTN OceanCast is the only high-definition (HD) system for live streaming of events from any maritime vessel offering simple, cost effective and potentially profitable end-to-end program management.  MTN OceanCast enables concerts, sports tournaments, celebrity interviews, educational sessions, charter voyage events, or even unplanned emergencies to be broadcast live to any smartphone, tablet, TV or other device anywhere in the world from a maritime vessel. 

Vessel operators can now deliver a high-definition broadcast from their fleet, creating new revenue-generating events or simply sharing content, such as educational explorations, with minimal impact to the overall bandwidth or leverage on their existing communications service.    

“MTN OceanCast is the ultimate social media avenue and event broadcasting tool in maritime,” said Chris Leber, executive vice president, commercial business development, MTN.  “It eliminates the complexity of live broadcasting from the middle of the ocean.  This turnkey Web solution can be set up to stream in as little as 15 minutes with a simple touch-screen device on the ship connected through a modem to the MTN network.  Our Production Services Team can customize the streaming to the customer’s specific needs.  This is one more MTN value-add that, aligned with our service excellence and industry innovation, demonstrates our ability to anticipate and exceed our partners’ ever-expanding needs.”

“We conducted our first OceanCast for Lindblad Expeditions last week, when they produced their first TV broadcast from their ship National Geographic Explorer in South Georgia,” said Arthur Theodorou, network and fleet IT manager, Lindblad Expeditions.  “James Balog, the founder of the Extreme Ice Survey, whose work was featured in the highly acclaimed documentary ‘Chasing Ice,’ did four live to tape interviews to North American network and affiliate news programs.  The HD content from the remote locale provided a dramatic backdrop to Balog’s comments on his expansion of his Extreme Ice Survey to the southern hemisphere.”

 With MTN OceanCast, the vessel operator can select who views the broadcast, who gets security access, and ways to generate new revenues through live event streaming.  Live chat boxes can be available during a broadcast event, making it truly interactive with the viewing audience.  

MTN OceanCast is a new service delivered through the company’s TV and Broadcast Group.  MTN introduced MTN Worldwide TV (MTN TV) as the only live, worldwide maritime television service for the enjoyment of passengers and crew on vessels around the world.  MTN TV is a turnkey solution, including equipment installation and service provisioning, for MTN partners as well as for vessel operators just using this particular MTN service.

About MTN

MTN is the leading global provider of maritime communications and content services.  Since launching the first stabilized satellite antenna for ships at sea in the early 1980s, MTN has been pioneering remote-connectivity technologies that become longstanding solutions.  Today, the company serves most of the world’s cruise lines, as well as hundreds of yachts, cargo ships, oil and gas vessels, ferries, and military aircraft, ships, vehicles and facilities.  MTN Nexus™, the company’s next-generation communications ecosystem, is the first hybrid C-/Ku-band and broadband wireless network that is delivering content with land-like speeds to vessels at sea.  For more information, visit www.mtnsat.com.

Contact:
Liz DeCastro
Liz.DeCastro@mtnsat.com
+1-954-672-4539