Mobile Operators

Seanet provides maritime GSM1800 coverage. The current fleet covers a large number of contracted vessels, of which the vast majority are currently operational, mainly sailing in the Mediterranean, the Baltic Sea and the Caribbean. For a list of ship owners we have contract with, please check this page

So why sign roaming with Seanet?

  • Coverage: The coverage is unique to Seanet. If your customers visit the vessels in question, they either get coverage via Seanet or they are left without a connection.
  • Limited efforts: This is from your perspective a pure outbound roaming service, which means that almost all the IREG testing work will be on Seanet to perform. You only need to assist us with common tests and of course the TADIG/Billing verification. The burden on your Roaming team is meant to be kept to a minimum.
  • Low IOT: The IOT we offer is lower than other Maritime services currently on the market, and we also propose a discount on this rate in exchange for having this saving passed onto the customers. We are keen to ensure that good value for money is perceived, which we believe is not the case with some competing services.

Operator FAQ

Q: Who is Seanet?
A: Seanet is an independent operator, based in Sweden, who provides GSM based coverage on vessels, such as cruise ships and ferries. We are listed on the OMX Nasdaq list First North list and are not owned by any existing operator.

Q: GSM on which band?
A: GSM 1800

Q: Which services do you provide?
A: Voice + SMS and CAMEL Phase 2. GPRS under implementation.

Q: What ships do you cover?
A: The list is in the AA.14 (section I.9) which includes both the operational and contracted ones. A list including only the operational ones can be found here. This is also communicated to you in the SLD field of the CDRs in the TAP files.

Q: You IOT is above the EU regulated level and you are from Sweden – why don’t you comply with regulation?
A: EU regulation on international roaming regulates terrestrial operators only. With the satellite leg of every call to and from a boat, its for now not financially viable for Seanet to reach the terrestrial levels, but we are offering a discounted IOT as an option to make the Seanet roaming more attractive to you and your customers.

Q: Why are you giving the condition on offering the discounted IOT?
A: Seanet would like to ensure people can afford using our service, and also ensure that the public opinion of maritime roaming is positive, by providing good value for money. This is an objective we believe we share with you as HPMN as you are the one facing a complaining customer, after using excessively priced services of certain competitors of ours.
If we discount our IOT and you as HPMN do not pass the savings, then we’d fail our objective, why we in return for the discount require that you pass the savings on.
We would welcome a continued discussion with you and your company for international roaming. Please feel free to come back to us with any queries you may have concerning our offer.

Q: Mobile terminated calls go to your MSRN at +882 42 and we pay xx for this.
A: We charge €0,75/minute (per second rounding) to our international carrier (BICS). In case you are paying more than say €1/minute, then there is a middleman who over-charges. Please communicate the €0,75 to your carrier and state that we can be reached via Belgacom to ensure you get a fair price.

Q: Do you comply with existing regulation?
A: Yes, please see the Regulatory Context.

Maritime GSM – Regulatory context

GSM Association Permanent reference documents

GSM A guiding document for non-terrestrial (including maritime) roaming is called BA.46

Seanet is a “Non-terrestrial Operator” which means that we are not an extension to an existing terrestrial operator.

  • you sign a normal AA.12+AA.13 with us
  • we have a dedicated AA.14 for our network
  • we use a 901 MCC (no MCC/MNC sharing or usage of a terrestrial MCC) issued to us by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU).
  • we use a pure maritime TAP code (“AAM 21”), using the AAM prefix as per the TD.13
  • we are full GSM A member
  • we have an automated system that ensures we do not broadcast where we do not have a license to operate

Maritime regulation

International waters is not regulated why broadcasting there require no license or spectrum allocation. Some flag states (countries where the vessel is registered) require licenses for putting a GSM network on vessel that fly the flag of that country.

It’s been generally recognised that coverage may also be needed on national waters, closing the gap between terrestrial coverage and International Waters. Initiatives include

  • CEPT regulation, ECC/DEC(08)08. This is not binding unless the countries accepted to ratified the regulation.
  • EU regulation, Official Journal L 072 , 20/03/2010 P. 0042 – 0045. Gives all EU27 countries until the 19th of March 2011 to implement regulation that gives “Member States should take all steps necessary to be able to authorise, in the frequency bands or sub-bands made available in accordance with Decision 2010/166/EU, the use of spectrum for the provision of MCV services in their territorial seas on board vessels of their nationality and the use of spectrum for the provision of MCV services in their territorial seas, as applicable”. This is also includes  “mutual recognition”, so that authorisation in one member state is also applicable in any of the other.

Please mind that the CEPT and EU regulation aims at harmful interference shall not take place, so terrestrial operators need not to worry that the vessels covered by compliant operators cause interference in relation to their terrestrial networks. Also, coverage inside national water may only be provided inside the vessel, so even when the vessel is on a location that is covered by the terrestrial network, their coverage does normally not penetrate the steel body of the vessel. It can hence be safely assumed that the compliant maritime networks do not “hijack” any traffic from terrestrial networks. Its complementary – not competitive or cannibalising.

Point of contact

Seanet Roaming
roaming@seanet.se
+46 735 405155

Address for shipping SIMs
Seanet Maritime Communications AB
Att: Mr Joakim Lindström
Vretenvägen 4
171 54 Solna
Sweden

Tel: +46 735 405155

Seanet requires 6 Sims for IR.24 and 4 additional SIMs for CAMEL