• Offshore antenna network increases coverage area by more than 5000 km2

(Via Google Translate): KPN and Tampnet have entered into a partnership for expanding 4G coverage in the North Sea for business customers. By installing an offshore antenna network at sea, the coverage area of ​​the KPN network will be expanded by more than 5000 km2, which is comparable to the area of ​​the province of Noord-Brabant. The collaboration was announced at the Maritime Offshore & Sustainable Technology symposium (MOST) in The Hague University.

"The North Sea was for a long time an impossible place to achieve mobile coverage, with bad weather conditions and too little economic activity," said Jacob Groote, KPN's executive vice-president business market. "The cooperation with a specialized party such as Tampnet and the increased digitization make it possible to roll out 4G here on a large scale and cost-effectively."

Expansion of coverage area

In 2020, business users working at sea up to 300 kilometers from the Dutch coastline will have mobile coverage, which is an extension of 285 kilometers. This concerns people who work on drilling platforms and wind farms, but also fishermen and defense personnel. At present, they use even more expensive satellite and beam connections, which deliver poorer performance and which also require special equipment. After the expansion of the coverage area, they can use their second mobile devices with a second SIM card and work in the same way as on land.

In total Tampnet will build 10 masts with 25 antennas in the Dutch part of the North Sea, half of which has already been realized. The new infrastructure is part of a larger network of Tampnet that also includes the English and Norwegian parts of the North Sea. Business customers will also be able to access 4G services here.

Covering 5G network

“We will expand this model in the future, so that our customers can reach the entire North Sea,” says Groote. According to him, the model is future-proof. "This collaboration offers the opportunity to grow into a covering 5G network in the North Sea."

The Danish company Ørsted operates wind farms in the North Sea. Morten Holm, head of the Hornsea One wind farm: “We were able to set up a fully functioning office offshore, which enabled us to efficiently organize the coordination and planning on location. The speed of the network connection provided simplified communication between our on and offshore teams and enabled us to digitize our activities at the same time. ”

About Tampnet
Tampnet is the world's leading telecommunications supplier for the offshore industry based on subsea-fiber and wireless 4G LTE. Tampnet operates offshore telecom infrastructure in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. More than 350 oil and gas production platforms, a large number of mobile platforms (rigs) and shipping communicate via this high-speed data communication network. Tampnet employs more than a hundred professionals and has offices in Stavanger (headquarters), Aberdeen, Scott, Houston, Amsterdam, Rio and Sydney.