MTN in charge of Technip vessels’ broadband comms

MTN Communications (MTN) has announced that Technip, a world leader in project management, engineering and construction for the energy industry, has awarded a new contract that will service a substantial portion of its global fleet with critical, high-availability broadband communications.

MTN has delivered communications to Technip for the past ten years and this enhanced contract more than doubles the number of Technip vessels MTN is serving. Based on a collaborative relationship, service excellence and innovative technology, MTN will now provide enhanced value and innovative solutions to fleet vessels in North and South America, Europe, Africa and Southeast Asia.

Technip is expanding its relationship with MTN due to the data-intensive nature of its business. MTN services are ideal for supporting the extended time periods Technip vessels are at sea. MTN owns and operates a fully redundant global network providing unmatched communications and content services. MTN’s reliability, innovation and responsiveness were key to expanding the partnership.

“We have to complete many actions from our vessels while they are operational, such as critical project updates, 24-hour purchase requisitions back to shore, and live underwater video streaming,” said Stuart Millar, IT director for Technip in the UK.

“The MTN solution enables us to conduct our business activities while at sea, no matter the location around the world. Given this increasing demand on our IT communications systems, we needed to extend our onboard bandwidth and networks. MTN has figured new optimization technologies into the equation so we can accomplish this. In addition, MTN offers network management tools which help us design communications configurations for each project, yet are flexible so we can make changes when schedules shift or network demands vary. A comprehensive dashboard of real-time and historical information is available to support better decision-making. This allows our focus to remain on execution of our subsea projects.”

Technip has access to live event streaming from vessels if clients need to view progress on a project or if headquarters needs visibility of an emergency situation. For work/life balance, the Group utilizes MTN satellite services to provide online connectivity – traditional voice, Internet and video services such as live global TV service – in accommodation cabins, as well as common areas.

“Our success with Technip is very important and is a reflection of our focus and ability to deliver highly-reliable broadband communications to the energy segment,” said Chris Leber, executive vice president, commercial business development, MTN.

“We have worked hard to understand and respond to Technip’s operational and crew connectivity requirements in the challenging environment of subsea operations. We collaborate regularly to quickly deliver additions or changes to their network, allowing them to focus on their core business.”

Technip reached out to MTN more than a decade ago after a hurricane knocked out its communications services. MTN was able to quickly deliver higher levels of redundancy, satellite connectivity and ground-based network services. From there MTN and Technip have expanded the service from basic voice telephony to a full-scale multimedia portfolio that mirrors the organization’s land-based enterprise.