Blog Archives | Page 10 of 18

Nobody questions the value of data extracted from oil well sites. From exploration to flowback testing, and drilling to recovery, there is both routine and failure data to be captured, stored, shared and analyzed.

In many cases, this data is out of reach of terrestrial communication networks, giving production companies two choices: send someone to retrieve the data, or set up a satellite communications network.

In this blog post we’re comparing the pros and cons of both options. Full disclosure: we believe satellite connectivity is the more scalable, cost-effective and safe approach, but we’ll be as objective as a satellite communications company can be!

Field Engineer vs. BGAN machine

Field Engineer vs BGAN machine infographic

Here’s a full breakdown of the relative costs of operation

An experienced Field Engineer costs on average $68,132 per year. Plus expenses and other benefits including company vehicles and overtime charge out rates.

The cost of operating a BGAN satellite connectivity terminal can be as little as $63 per month for up to 20MB – a saving of $68,069 annually and $680,690 over the typical 10 years lifetime of a BGAN terminal.

Gas is an ever-increasing expense and the cost of fuel has increased around the world. The average Field Engineer will travel on average 25,000 miles per year. With the average gas price currently $3.34, this amounts to almost $3,500 in fuel costs alone; with insurance and taxable miles on top, and of course chargeable time.

Time is money. Onsite maintenance of traditional connectivity devices can take several hours to service – with on-site visits taking place on average once per week. Even then, there is no guarantee of the issues being resolved without further callbacks. Installation of a BGAN device mitigates the need for on-site Engineers. With a reliable uptime of 99.9%, BGAN requires minimal servicing, maintenance or ongoing equipment checks.

A single weekly call-out based on the average Field Engineer’s salary is a day rate of $272.52. With expenses, it is likely to be around $500, each time the system fails and on the basis that the fault can be rectified the same day. BGAN is highly reliable – even when installed in the most remote locations. Installation of one BGAN satellite connectivity device across the oil well network of ten pumps could save tens of thousands of dollars each year.

Servicing, ongoing maintenance and fault checking is costly work. In addition, equipment required to measure and transmit data from oil well sites often costs hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars per month. Installation of a BGAN satellite connectivity device mitigates these costs completely. Reporting on exception, the costs to transmit and measure data are as little as $2 a day.

BGAN satellite connectivity devices are incredibly cost-efficient. The typical hardware and airtime requirements for a remote oil site are just $2 a day, or $756 per year. Compared with the average cost of a Field Engineer, the savings to your business are in excess of $67,376 every, single, year.

Want to know how you can reduce your call out costs?

We’re a preferred Iridium and Inmarsat partner and can help you to reduce your daily, annual and ongoing connectivity costs. It’s what we do best and we’re always here to help. Email us on hello@groundcontrol.com or call:

UK and RoW +44 (0) 1452 751940

USA +1.805.783.4600

What do we mean by portable? Portable and mobile are often used interchangeably in the satellite internet broadband context, and the water gets muddied even further when you bring satellite phones into the equation. For Ground Control, we define these three groups of products as follows:

Portable: can be carried and deployed by a single person; delivers satellite broadband. Most terminals are capable of voice calls, too.
Mobile: the device does not need to be pointed and can be used while in-motion – fixed to a car, truck or train, for example, or for rapid fixed deployment (while maritime and aviation applications can also be described as mobile, they have their own categories).
Handheld: satellite phones. These are chiefly designed for voice rather than data, although some will deliver a small amount of data for tracking or short text messages.

Now that’s cleared up, let’s look at the best devices for your portable satellite internet needs. The key comparison points you should be looking at are:

Broadband speeds

While these portable devices cannot boast the sorts of speeds you can expect from a fibre broadband connection, they are typically used when there are no other terrestrial connections available. There’s a wide range of upload and download speeds available. If you’re not sure what speeds you’ll need, here’s a quick guide:

Devices	Broadband Speed	Good For
MCD-4800 Explorer 510 Hughes 9202M	Up to 464 Kbps download 448 Kbps upload shared	Phone services \| Email \| Instant messaging \| Internet browsing \| Live video broadcasting \| Large file transfers \| Video conferencing
Explorer 710 Hughes 9211	650 Kbps download streaming 650 Kbps upload streaming	Faster file transfers \| Video streaming connectivity \| Class 1 terminals
MCD-MissionLINK	Up to 700 Kbps download 352 Kbps upload	Faster file transfers \| Multiple Iridium voice channels available
Toughsat Flyaway	20 Mbps download 7 Mbps upload	Live event broadcasting \| Video streaming (Netflix and Youtube work well at this speed) \| Multiple users \| Speeds depend on size of individual networks and transmitter power

Battery life

Self-explanatory, really; for how long will your device keep providing you with a WiFi hotspot before it needs recharging? All of the times listed below assume that the device is in active use; they have substantially longer standby times.

Devices	Battery Life
Explorer 510 Explorer 710	3.5 hours
Hughes 9211	4 hours
MCD-4800	5 hours
Hughes 9202M	5.5 hours
MCD-MissionLINK	6 hours
Toughsat Flyaway	Mains powered

Ingress Protection (IP) rating

If you’re going to be using your device outside, it’ll need some degree of ingress protection, and all of these devices are pretty robust. The Toughsat Flyaway is designed to be used outside in extreme environments, but the satellite router is designed for use indoors or in a protective IP rated enclosure.

Devices	IP Rating	Definition
Hughes 9202M Hughes 9211	IP55	Not completely protected from dust ingress but will still function; will function if a water jet is pointed at it
Explorer 510 Explorer 710 MCD-MissionLINK	IP66	Completely protected from dust ingress; will function if a powerful water jet is pointed at it
MCD-4800	IP67	Completely protected from dust ingress; can be immersed in water up to 1m for up to 30 minutes

Satellite connectivity

If you’re not familiar with how satellite orbits affect communication, it’s worth reading our blog post on the topic. The short version is that if you choose a geostationary orbit (GEO), you need to remember that the device usually needs to be pointed at the satellite (after which you’ll have a very robust connection), and that the device won’t work in the polar regions. A device connecting with satellites in low earth orbit (LEO) will work anywhere in the world, and doesn’t require pointing.

Devices	Satellite Airtime Provider	GEO or LEO
MCD-4800* Explorer 510 Explorer 710 Hughes 9202M Hughes 9211	Inmarsat	Geostationary
MCD-MissionLINK	Iridium	Low Earth Orbit
Toughsat Flyaway*	Ku Band VSAT Networks	Geostationary

*These devices auto-point to the satellite

Price range

Remember that you’ll need to pay both for the device and for the airtime, so these estimates are a guide only.

Devices	Price Range
Explorer 510	<$2,500
Hughes 9202M	$2,500 – $4,000
Hughes 9211 Explorer 710	$4,000 – $6,000
MCD-MissionLINK MCD-4800	$12,000 – $14,000
Toughsat Flyaway	$16,000 – $20,000

So, it’s not a very satisfying answer, but with such a wide range of options and functionality, the best portable satellite device is the one that best meets your needs. If you need any help, that’s what we’re here for, so please get in touch.

Can We Help You?

With 20 years of experience, we can help you make the best choices for your remote renewables connectivity infrastructure.

We’re not invested in selling you a specific product or connections, just the best solution for your needs.

Call us on +44 (0) 1452 751940 (Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania) or 800 773 7168 (North and South America), complete the form, or email hello@groundcontrol.com.

The IoT M2M Council recently reported a potential threat to “millions of routers and IoT devices”; malware named BotenaGo, identified by Alien Labs. This comes after a Zscaler report that IoT malware attacks rose 700% during the pandemic, 59% of which came from devices in manufacturing and retail.

Fortunately, there’s plenty of great advice to help mitigate the threat of IoT malware, and we’ve adapted this specifically for relevance to satellite IoT.

1. Monitor network traffic and unreasonable bandwidth usage

Can you review and analyze the amount of data each device in your network is using? Can you set alerts to ensure any unauthorized or unexpected data surges are shut down quickly? There are solutions available today that make this easy, such as Cloudloop; investing in one of these won’t prevent attacks but they will help you limit the damage.

2. Ensure minimal exposure to the internet / isolate IoT networks

Most satellite IoT users, whether you’re using satellites in low earth orbit (LEO) or geostationary, retrieve your data from your satellite service provider’s ground station using the internet at some point – and you have choices over how secure you make that connection. For example, this diagram shows a very simplified networking diagram for the RockREMOTE, a satellite IoT connectivity device.

Network-diagram-for-RockREMOTE

After the data from either the satellite or cellular network is sent to the land network connection, users choose between delivering that data via the internet, or using a VPN; the latter minimizes your exposure to the internet and is recommended for critical applications.

There is a further option for companies concerned with critical national infrastructure, such as Oil & Gas and Utilities, and that is to operate an entirely private networking solution. This service, from TSAT, is designed specifically for SCADA / telemetry networks, and essentially places a ground station at your premises; it does not use any public infrastructure connectivity such as the internet.

Further, the TSAT system has many features to prevent unauthorized access to traffic communicated via the satellite link, regardless of the traffic type (TCP/IP or serial), including the option of AES-256 encryption. In our view, it’s certainly worth exploring. The hardware is more expensive than your average satellite connectivity device, but once you’ve taken into account the simplified networking and lower data transmission costs, it can deliver, and has delivered, lower operating costs.

How private satellite networks work

3. Use a properly configured firewall

An effective firewall will protect against:

Network threats: DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) and application-layer attacks which may disrupt the integrity and availability of the Service Provider’s network.
Device threats: preventing devices from connecting to unknown services. This reduces the chances of devices being compromised.
Service abuse: preventing IoT devices from being used unexpectedly, which can result in revenue leakage for the Service Provider or the application owner.

4. Update your passwords

Clearly not specific to satellite IoT but this is such an important point, we couldn’t leave it out. Remember, the infamous Colonial Pipeline hack in April 2021 was made possible because of a single compromised password which allowed the hackers to gain entry through an (unused but still viable) VPN account.

If you could use some objective advice on improving the security within your satellite IoT network, please get in touch with the Ground Control team. We have customers providing critical national infrastructure services globally, and have delivered secure, reliable connectivity in multiple applications.

Get in touch

We've implemented satellite IoT infrastructure for decades, and there's very rarely been an obstruction issue we couldn't overcome with a bit of knowledge and ingenuity.

We'd be happy to talk to you about your project and offer impartial advice on the best antenna and satellite service for your particular requirements. Call or email us, or complete the form.

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IoT-M2M-Blog-Post

Two of the technologies that you’ll often hear about in the context of device networking are M2M (machine-to-machine) and IoT (Internet of Things). But what are they and how do they differ?

What is M2M and IoT?

In simple terms, M2M is where machines connect to each other using a network to share data, such as machines, sensors or appliances. An M2M connection is a direct, point-to-point connection between two networked devices using wired or wireless communication channels – such as ethernet and cellular networks.

M2M technology is present in our homes, offices and cars. Controlling electrical appliances like smart bulbs and connecting Bluetooth from your smartphone in your car are just two examples of M2M applications at home. Here, the smart bulbs and your smartphone are the two machines interacting with each other; likewise, your smartphone with your car.

IoT is essentially the next step. It’s an evolution of M2M that increases the things that device connectivity can achieve. It’s a network of devices – not a point-to-point connection like M2M – that exchange data over a network or “cloud” of networked devices. The technologies used by IoT devices allow users to create fast, flexible, secure networks that connect a wide variety of devices. The data can also be monitored and controlled using a platform too, allowing businesses to closely monitor their ‘things’.

“IoT is itself a subset of M2M technology. IoT involves communication between machines without any human input, making it by definition a form of M2M communication. However, IoT expands the power and potential of M2M technology in new ways.”

The biggest difference between M2M and IoT is that an M2M system uses point-to-point communication. An IoT system, meanwhile, typically places its devices within a cloud network that allows larger-scale integration and more sophisticated applications. However, there are also further distinct differences:

M2M	IoT
Machine-to-machine direct communication	Links a number of machines together both directly and indirectly
Supports point-to-point communication only	Communication takes place in the cloud
Does not necessarily require an internet connection	An active internet connection is required
Mostly hardware-based	Hardware and software-based
Normally communicate with one device at a time	Users can access multiple devices simultaneously
Data delivery through mobile or fixed networks	Data delivery depends on the internet protocol (IP) network*

(Source: Parker Engineering)

*There is nuance here. For example, a yacht race organizer tracking multiple participants’ location via satellite is a good example of IoT in action, however, location data from the yachts to the cloud service does not need to be delivered via IP. The internet is only required for data delivery once the data has landed from space.

In summary…

Both IoT and M2M technologies enable machines to exchange data autonomously and perform tasks with limited human intervention. Yet, IoT and M2M have a number of distinct differences that we’ve highlighted here, depending on connection type, application and scalability.

The two are different solutions and provide different levels of data exchange and collection. Both, however, are geared toward creating a more connected and “smart” world.

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Complete the form, or if you prefer to speak to someone directly, call us on +44 (0) 1452 751940 (Europe, Asia, Africa) or +1.805.783.4600 (North and South America).

Consulting firm McKinsey projected that the Oil and Gas industry could add up to $250 billion of value to their upstream operations by 2030. How? By leveraging technology to improve connectivity, optimising drilling and production output, and improving maintenance and field operations.

In this webinar, hosted by Ben Travers and Liz Wilson of Ground Control, we explore five ways in which this optimised connectivity can be achieved – whether that’s through lowering costs through better device monitoring, choosing the best communications strategy for each application, or by implementing emerging technology such as edge computing.

Satellite connectivity is already widely used in the Oil well lifecycle, because there’s no more reliable and secure way of getting your data from remote locations back to your engineering or HSE team. But it’s fair to say that it’s viewed by some as expensive and a necessary evil.

However, as more and more satellite companies have started offering commercial services, competition has expedited both the diversification of airtime services, and lowered the cost. It’s time for Oil companies to revisit their current set up and see if they could save money by adopting different forms of connectivity at different stages of the oil well lifecycle.

If it sounds complicated and expensive to review your current connectivity infrastructure, there’s good news here, too; devices are available now which will integrate with your legacy set up, extending their lifecycle, while conferring you the benefits of better connectivity at a lower price.

If you’d like to learn more about Ground Control’s satellite connectivity solutions for Oil and Gas companies, check out our Oil & Gas overview page or get in touch via the form below.

We've got you covered

We have over 20 years’ experience in helping companies like yours get the optimal combination of airtime, hardware and services. For a no pressure call, simply fill in the form and one of our expert team will get back to you.

In this webinar, recorded in September 2021, we explore the challenge presented by the PSTN switch off, particularly the impact upon utilities companies. As you might anticipate, we’ll propose satellite connectivity as a solution to these challenges, but this offers you a broad spectrum of possibilities, so we explore the best options for this application. Finally, we address some of the frequently asked questions about this service.

Why are British Utilities Companies Affected by the PSTN Switch Off?

Utilities companies are particularly exposed by BT OpenReach’s decision to switch off the PSTN network, as they operate many thousands of sites currently connected using this technology. And it’s worked really well – PSTN’s astonishing availability (99.992%) is something that even FTTP may struggle to match. Security is another concern: as many utilities companies are requesting more and more data to facilitate the “smart grid”, if that data can be intercepted, that could lead to costly and reputation damaging outages.

Cellular connectivity will be the solution for most utilities sites – but not all. Remote sites may have no cellular coverage because they’re in a valley, for example, and you can’t simply move the site into 3G or 4G range. Or you may have some cellular coverage, but it’s unreliable – and so a backup, or failover, system is needed to ensure that the data can always get out.

Why is Satellite a Viable Solution?

Satellite connectivity has long been the failover for really remote utilities sites where not even the PSTN network reaches. You need very limited infrastructure – a clear view of the sky, and an antenna plus transceiver that can connect with the satellite network. These devices are not weather or location dependant; they have a 10-15 year life span, and have been built with your existing infrastructure in mind. The key here is resilience: when the cellular network is unavailable or unreliable, satellite provides an excellent primary or failover system.

Not all Satellite Connectivity is Created Equal

Satellite connectivity ranges from very small daily data volumes which are transmitted hourly, to high throughput live video streaming-capable solutions. For the PSTN switch off, you are looking at something towards the smaller end of that scale, with kilobytes of daily data, and transmission frequency measured in minutes. We would recommend either the RockREMOTE or the Cobham Explorer 540. The video explains the differences between the two services, but if you’ve any questions, please get in touch.

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Why is a satellite solution needed?

For years, PSTN lines have facilitated many remote data collection applications. On December 31 2025, in the UK, these lines will be switched off, as BT Openreach focuses on developing its fibre network, which delivers IP telephony – the “new” means by which data will be transferred. And this pattern is being repeated across the developed world. However, it will be many years before fiber finds its way to remote locations – if indeed it ever does – and it’s cost-prohibitive for most companies to fund this privately. While cellular connectivity provides a viable alternative, some sites are so remote that there is no cellular coverage.

Satellite connectivity is the clear choice in this scenario, allowing organizations to securely extend IT infrastructure to every remote corner of their operations, create complete visibility of assets and allow process control. Satellite-based technology also offers cyber-secure scalable communications.

Not all satellite services are the same. Indeed, the diversification of satellite services has made this option much more flexible and cost-effective than it was several years ago. By understanding the application, the frequency of transmission, and volume of data, you can ensure the best communications solution fit.

We’re exploring the two most popular options for satellite connectivity in the context of the PSTN switch off, to help you choose the best solution for your needs.

BGAN M2M (now IoT Pro)

Viasat, who own and operate a network of geostationary satellites and ground stations, provide IoT Pro – previously known as the Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) service. With full IP connectivity, and as it’s a lower bandwidth M2M service, it’s a good fit for the types of applications currently served by PSTN lines.

Designed as a low data volume service for monitoring process control type applications such as SCADA, monthly data plans start at 2MB per month, going up to 50MB per month and beyond. By scrutinizing how the application is generating data, and the structure and format of the files, it is possible to reduce data volumes. Inmarsat use data compression to reduce data volumes to one-third of the cellular volume used for the same application.

Top four benefits of IoT Pro (BGAN M2M) as a PSTN replacement solution:

Terminals are less than 30cm by 30cm – much smaller in size than traditional satellite dishes and consume far less power.
Terminals are designed to be externally mounted giving zero-footprint inside a communications cabinet.
Low power requirements enhance the appeal of BGAN for sites with power constraints.
Some devices have the option of a bolt-on cellular module, which allows them to use LTE in addition to satellite.

Terminals designed to use the IoT Pro service are produced by several manufacturers and Ground Control supplies various options; the Cobham Explorer 540 is a particularly popular M2M device.

Iridium Certus 100

Iridium Certus 100 is a relatively new mid-band service that sits between Iridium’s Short Burst Data service, and its high throughput Certus 700 service. It is designed for applications that require small weight, size and power requirements. Ground Control is one of a very small number of manufacturers worldwide licensed to use the Certus 100 network, and the result is our RockREMOTE series of terminal. RockREMOTE also has a full Linux OS, and storage allowing edge computing-based processing, future-proofing the device and enabling more cost-effective data packet transmissions.

Top five benefits of RockREMOTE as a PSTN replacement solution:

Iridium Certus-connected enabling data anywhere with an easy to deploy omni antenna
Integrated LTE capability offering a turnkey solution for critical infrastructure
Serial to IP forwarding allowing for simple integration with control systems
Comprehensive power management (9v-32v) including toggling via a Power IO input
Robust, designed for industrial use with standard DIN rail mounting.

Making the right choice for you

In many respects, the RockREMOTE and Cobham Explorer 540 perform similarly. Both offer dual satellite / LTE connectivity, to help you balance costs with service availability. Both have very low power requirements so they can run on battery and solar power. Both are small and easy to install, and have expected lifespans of 10-15 years. The latency for the Explorer is approx. 2 seconds, and the RockREMOTE is 1 second – both are perfectly adequate for industrial IoT applications (the difference between the distance between the satellite and the earth – here’s more about how satellite orbit heights affect communication).

The Explorer – using the Inmarsat satellite network – connects to a single geostationary satellite, and, once established, the connection is very stable. However, the Explorer must be able to ‘see’ the satellite, which can make it unsuitable for hilly or wooded areas. The RockREMOTE connects to the Iridium constellation of 66 satellites, which are constantly passing overhead; this means that the antenna can point in any direction and still be picked up by a satellite. That’s a key advantage if your remote site is in a valley or surrounded by trees.

The Explorer is a single unit with both antenna and transceiver in the same casing, which is great for ease of deployment; it does present a slight security risk in the respect that if it were stolen or vandalized, the entire unit is compromised. The RockREMOTE is a two piece design with the transceiver designed to be situated in your facility. The antenna is small and discreet, making this design less vulnerable.

RockREMOTE benefits from frequent firmware updates, and the Linux kernel processor and SD storage create endless opportunities for edge processing of data including MQTT, and local applications for 2025 and beyond.

If you need any further help, that’s what we’re here for. Please contact us and we’ll be happy to provide impartial advice on the best satellite PSTN replacement for you.

Can We Help You?

We understand the challenges facing Utilities and Renewables companies. Our team are experts in getting data from hard-to-reach places – so you don’t have to be.

We are proud to have provided one of our utility customers with 27 years uninterrupted service, making satellite that company’s most reliable system. To learn more about our solutions and how these can help you consistently provide better for your customers, get in touch today.

In the world of industrial IoT, cellular connectivity is the default means of transferring sensor data back to your SCADA system. But what happens if the location your sensors are in is too remote to reliably connect to cellular? Or what if your sensors are on the move, dipping in and out of cellular range? In these scenarios, satellite-enabled IoT is an obvious choice, but has long been viewed as too expensive, too complicated, too fragile, or even not secure enough.

In this webinar, recorded in September 2021, Solutions Architect Matthew Ellison and Channel Partner Manager Rory Ashley seek to dismantle these perceptions, and give real-life examples of where the extra data provided by satellite IoT connectivity has materially improved outcomes – from smart farming to disaster management, environmental monitoring to renewable energy production.

The content is also available as an eBook:

Connectivity Challenges

Terrestrial networks only cover 15% of the Earth’s surface, and focus on populated areas. This leaves a number of businesses unable to reach their assets remotely, and having instead to resort to manpower – with the time delays and additional costs presented by that solution. In these scenarios, satellite connectivity is an obvious choice.

Further, the number one challenge The IoT Magazine stated that IoT faced was cybersecurity, and the risk of hacking. Satellite has a huge advantage over cellular here, as, if needed, an entirely private satellite network can be created with no reliance on, or exposure to, public networks at all.

Satellite vs Cellular from a Cost Perspective

Satellite is not as low cost as cellular, but it is moving in the right direction. Greater competition, better technology, and diversification of offerings has seen the wholesale price of high-throughput satellite tumble in recent years, and it’s our view that prices will continue to lower, as the established players – Inmarsat and Iridium, for example – come up against well funded new entrants like Elon Musk’s Starlink, and Amazon’s Kuiper satellite offerings.

That said, it’s improbable that satellite will replace cellular, as it is likely to always remain a little more expensive; so the applications for satellite IoT are, not unexpectedly, those where cellular networks are unavailable, such as ocean data buoys or remote farms, or where the asset is moving in and out of terrestrial connectivity – such as transport and cargo ships.
Make sure to watch the webinar to see great examples of satellite connectivity in action – and if you have any questions, we’re here to help.

Get in touch

We've implemented satellite IoT infrastructure for decades, and there's very rarely been an obstruction issue we couldn't overcome with a bit of knowledge and ingenuity. We'd be happy to talk to you about your project and offer impartial advice on the best antenna and satellite service for your particular requirements. Call or email us, or complete the form.

Many UK businesses still heavily depend on copper wire-based services to collect data and communicate with remote sites. These hardwired connections have offered reliability and resilience for decades. However, the cost of operating and maintaining outdated copper wire-based analogue services is high, and the limited bandwidth and speeds no longer meet customer expectations. BT Openreach, who own and manage these lines, have therefore called an end to analogue based services. The PSTN network will be switched off in December 2025.

The decision to switch off PSTN creates a necessity for organizational change and large-scale investment. The switch off provides an ideal opportunity for digital transformation, and the removal of existing legacy systems. Businesses are also changing. Organizations are merging Operational Technology (OT) with IT services, drawing the worlds of physical infrastructure and data management closer together. Further, expansion into process control and automation, and data sharing across an organization, creates efficiencies through optimization and greater visibility.

Fibre optic cable as a PSTN solution

Openreach is focused on fibre optic cable as the solution for replacing PSTN. It’s cheaper and more resilient as a product and it offers faster speeds and greater bandwidth to carry more data. The area around an exchange and its network infrastructure which can use fibre, is known as a ‘fibre footprint’. The size of the footprint may be due to economics or physics, but the real communication challenge for PSTN switch off lies outside the footprint.

Utilities providers can pay for a fibre connection to be added to remote sites, and this is a good choice if applications will benefit from 20 times more bandwidth and higher speeds of up to a gigabit per second. However, millions of active PSTN lines at remote sites won’t benefit, and increased sophistication of cyber threats and the prohibitive economic cost of digging fibre to remote locations means a different approach is required.

Satellite communication as a PSTN solution

Several satellite communication services offer secure solutions with varying bandwidth and speeds at viable pricing. What’s more, satellite services go one step further and provide more than an like for like replacement for remote sites with no coverage. Satellite also offers cyber security and resilience at critical locations, even where there is cellular coverage. Implementing built in satellite and cellular communication paths reduces the risks posed by the switch off PSTN lines.

BT Openreach findings

The number and variability in locations, applications and data requirements, means the PSTN replacement will be a mix of solutions. With 16 million lines and channels to manage, most replacements will be simple, straightforward swaps to cellular or fibre. The distance from the exchange and the data volumes are key questions. Certain lines will be better served by fibre connections and some will be more easily replaced by a cellular solution. This leaves an estimated 10% of sites too far from the exchange to be serviced by fibre or broadband over copper, with many of these also requiring more resilience than cellular coverage offers.

RockREMOTE as a satellite-based solution

The potential loss of connection and data transfer from assets can carry heavy penalties, both monetary and reputation damage. The challenge of converting traditional lines into digital communications without such loss can be resolved effectively by adopting the new RockREMOTE technology. The unit, with its hybrid LTE / Iridium Certus connectivity, facilitates data transfer from and to anywhere – only solar power is required to run the RockREMOTE continuously and without loss of connectivity.

With RS232 and RS485 built in, supporting serial to IP migration for telemetry devices, RockREMOTE has a full Linux OS, and even has storage allowing users to move closer to the benefits of edge computing-based processing.

RockREMOTE-Antenna-Transparent

Key Features:

RockREMOTE reaches where other solutions can’t – cellular doesn’t always provide reliable connectivity in remote areas and there is a lack of capacity in rural locations. Also, this will likely get worse with the sunsetting of 2G/3G over the next few years
Provides backup comms – some sites are connectivity-critical and require backup comms when all else (namely cellular or fibre) fails
More cost-effective than fibre – fibre solutions remain costly and difficult to implement, especially if channelling to and installing in remote locations
Requires only solar – it is not uncommon for sites to be powered entirely by renewable energies. RockREMOTE can run purely through solar and does not require a generator or other power source, making it both energy- and cost-efficient.

Final Thoughts…

Understanding the practical business requirements for data transmission from remote sites and then designing a matrix of viable options is undoubtedly a major project. For non-essential applications in areas of good coverage, cellular will always, and appropriately, be considered the easy win.

Utility companies who count PSTN lines in their thousands need to make a start swapping to robust and secure digital IP-based communication technologies. Technologies that allow organizations to securely extend IT infrastructure to every remote corner of their operations, create complete visibility of assets, and allow process control. Satellite technologies also offer proven cyber-secure scalable communications. RockREMOTE is therefore ideal for industrial use cases where sites are remote and satellite communication is the only sensible PSTN switch off solution.

Video guide

The below webinar has also been put together as a handy guide for using satellite communication as your PSTN replacement:

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Field Engineer vs. BGAN machine

Want to know how you can reduce your call out costs?

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Broadband speeds

Devices

Broadband Speed

Good For

Battery life

Devices

Battery Life

Ingress Protection (IP) rating

Devices

IP Rating

Definition

Satellite connectivity

Devices

Satellite Airtime Provider

GEO or LEO

Price range

Devices

Price Range

Can We Help You?

1. Monitor network traffic and unreasonable bandwidth usage

2. Ensure minimal exposure to the internet / isolate IoT networks

3. Use a properly configured firewall

4. Update your passwords

Get in touch

Contact Us

What is M2M and IoT?

M2M

IoT

In summary…

Get in touch

Contact Us

We've got you covered

Contact Us

Why are British Utilities Companies Affected by the PSTN Switch Off?

Why is Satellite a Viable Solution?

Not all Satellite Connectivity is Created Equal

Get in touch

Contact Us

Why is a satellite solution needed?

BGAN M2M (now IoT Pro)

Iridium Certus 100

Making the right choice for you

Can We Help You?

Connectivity Challenges

Satellite vs Cellular from a Cost Perspective

Get in touch

Contact Us

Fibre optic cable as a PSTN solution

Satellite communication as a PSTN solution

BT Openreach findings

RockREMOTE as a satellite-based solution

Key Features:

Final Thoughts…

Video guide

Get in touch

Contact Us