PRIVA Delivers Connectivity and Content

PRIVA, the superyacht connectivity and content supplier previously known as MTN, has a new name and golden brand colour, and a new focus that aims to enrich the time of its UHNW clientele.

Ole Sivertsen, Senior Vice President of Maritime for Global Eagle, PRIVA’s parent company, has concentrated on keeping the focus of PRIVA on the uniquely personalised quality of superyacht clientele.

“Global Eagle has had great success worldwide delivering connectivity solutions to many different markets,” Sivertsen says. “What we’ve done for the superyacht market is maintain the fundamental belief that one size does not fit all. Each yacht is an expression of an owner’s personality. So, at PRIVA, we are all about extreme specialisation.”

Well known to yacht builders and captains from its MTN days, PRIVA’s software platform, Maestro, makes it easy to plug in various content requirements as simple carriers and services and to manage them so they are prioritised over the best channels.

“We focus on system integration and putting together the best combination of technology to deliver on our clients’ requirements,” Sivertsen says. 

Over the past two years, as MTN became PRIVA, and under Siversen’s leadership, the team has tripled in size and has launched the PRIVA Technical Concierge. “Our customers are not held in a queue when they need technical help,” Sivertsen says.

“PRIVA stands for enriching our client’s most valuable asset: their time. It underpins everything we do. Growing our team and offering the best customer service possible is how we deliver on that promise.”

Connectivity continues to evolve, as with the introduction of the low Earth-orbit (LEO) and new geostationary Earth-orbit (GEO) satellite constellations which will disrupt costs significantly in the next couple of years. Sivertsen says PRIVA is poised to offer their clients every advantage of the latest technologies. 

“We’re going to see that the price per Megabyte consumed is going to reduce dramatically. Think of all the new geostationary satellites that are going up as well.

“What we’re working on is a way to utilise the different cost profiles of each of these kinds of services. Just look at the medium Earth orbit (MEO) services: It’s a very expensive solution, but it’s very good for a specific type of traffic. So, a client may want to have that, then take your huge data loads—IoT traffic, database synchronisations, backup services, syncing iCloud photo libraries, those sorts of things—and run them over GEO services at a more optimised price structure. It’s about creating a platform that delivers the right path, the best economics, and the ultimate experience.”

PRIVA’s connectivity solutions have been developed to manage the hybrid network connections that have become increasingly viable in the past few years. With yachts able to take advantage of much lower cost of 4G while cruising within range of the coastal networks, being able to switch between 4G and VSAT has been something owners and their guests have been very happy about.

“But of course, it’s all about the seamlessness of that connection, and the switching,” Sivertsen says. “And the tools we provide to the yacht’s Captain, ETO, and crew make that process as simple as possible. In the world of connectivity, we are finding solutions to take the complexity out of the system and make it easy to enjoy the big game or conduct a meeting or stay in touch with family at home, all from the comfort of our clients amazing yachts.”

Sivertsen says that looking ahead, we will soon be seeing “self-driving networks,” in which the same level of automation and AI that can operate self-driving cars will be deployed to oversee and steer the various systems that deliver connectivity to yachts.

Cybersecurity is also key. PRIVA uses the latest in data analytics to spot patterns and trends based on content of what is expected in order to protect their clients’ data, information and privacy.

PRIVA is exhibiting at METSRADE (booth 11.208), followed by the Antigua Charter Show in December.