This innovative global satellite communications expert keeps energy companies in touch despite distance and difficulty
Written by Anne-Frances Hutchinson & Produced by Charlie Vecchio
The resources sector and satcomms go together like rocks and hard places, and that suits Henrik Jacobsen perfectly. As the CEO of Applied Satellite Technology (AST) Australia, he leads a dynamic crew of technical and customer care experts in their quest to provide best-fit satellite technology, airtime and service to the Australasian oil, gas and mining industry. Satellite communication is particularly useful in the resources sector, providing reliable connections in areas otherwise inaccessible by traditional terrestrial methods.
AST Australia’s roots are set in Jacobsen’s former company, HB Marine Pty Ltd, a marine telecommunications firm. When the demand for satellite communication began to grow, he established SatTel to fill the need.
“I realized I had opportunities with vessels and companies that probably hadn’t explored satellite communications, because it was either too expensive or just too difficult, so I posed that we try to make it easier for them.” Then-client AST UK recognized potential in Jacobsen’s two companies and proposed a friendly merger that would expand their holdings into the Pacific Rim.
Today, AST Australia provides the most flexible and complete range of satellite communications hardware, airtime, service and support to the maritime, land and aviation markets. In addition to the mining, oil and gas sector, the company serves a wide range of industries, such as media broadcasters, marine and transport operators, and first response agencies. AST is an airtime provider for all satellite systems, including Inmarsat, Iridium, Optus, ACeS, Thuraya and Optus MobileSat.
VISION & ADDED VALUE
AST Australia’s entry into the oil and gas market came, as Jacobsen describes, “at the third floor rather than ground level,” courtesy of Woodside, Australia’s largest publicly-traded oil and gas exploration and production company.
“Woodside was one of our really early customers, and then we just seemed to be there at the right time,” he says. “We delivered the right product at the right price, and they were happy with what we did. Being able to start off with a major client like Woodside was a big bonus for us, and that of course developed access to other large clients as well.” Those clients include BP, BHP Billiton, CSIRO and Rolls Royce, to name a few.
“Today our business is very much about developing specific solutions for the different industry groups that we work with,” he continues. “There’s a huge need today for anyone who uses telecommunications on a larger scale to work with a solutions provider such as ourselves to make sure that their satellite communications requirements are managed for them because they seem to think they don’t have the management skill or time to do it on top of their own core business.”
One of the most important aspects of that management is content control. “When you get on board a ship you want to be able to connect with your WiFi, you want to (surf the internet) and you might want to put some music on your iPod. Now, all this stuff is extremely dangerous when you are in an environment that’s purely operating on an expensive satellite venue. Most companies just simply haven’t got resources or the expertise to manage that,” Jacobsen explains.
A recent innovation, Satellite Communications Optimizer (SCO), utilizing technology from Australian net security leader NetBox Blue, prevents unwanted or inappropriate use, preserving bandwidth for priority applications. It is the first technology to integrate advanced spam filtering technologies that block spam before it uses the satellite bandwidth with link failover technologies and a full security, reporting and policy enforcement engine. The approach frees bandwidth devoured by “non-core” uses.
Says Jacobsen, “when you are on a satellite link, it’s expensive, so content management makes a huge difference. So this is what we’ve now developed. In Australia we’re working quite exclusively in this particular industry in developing some of the bandwidth management tools specifically between us. We’ve rolled out a few of them now, and it’s proving to be successful. We help our customers manage connectivity from end to end.”
Another value add is designed to help keep back office operations in shape – an initiative not commonly associated with satcomms. AST Australia offers unique customized forms management solutions to help operators manage information that can impact productivity and make or break performance, quality and safety audits.
The Adobe Acrobat-based solutions are intuitively designed and easy to use. “We don’t send the forms across the airwaves. We only send the contents of the form to an electronic version,” Jacobsen notes. “Another beauty is that we don’t change a thing. We generate your forms in electronic format. There’s no change in the look and feel of the forms a company is used to using. Everything is kept electronically and is accessible to anyone from anywhere because you can get on a computer anywhere in the world, login and you can pull up forms back at the head office.”
VSAT PRO
Very small aperture terminal (VSAT) is a mainstay of satellite access; in addition to offering a variety of VSAT solutions to the fixed, mobile and marine markets, AST Australia is redefining the technology with an innovative offering, VsatPRO, which brings together bandwidth management and content filtering to optimize efficiency while controlling costs. This managed solution allows IT Managers to have full control over their satellite bandwidth infrastructure. Subsea operations service provider TS Marine recently granted AST Australia a $1 million contract to supply the VsatPRO solutions to two of their vessels. “AST Australia was chosen due to the value added solution and the innovative ways which we manage satellite bandwidth for our clients,” Jacobsen says.
While the high-end oil and gas industry is AST Australia’s specialty, customers can depend on AST for smaller solutions as well. For example, the firm recently launched the SatMate i60, a handheld fixed mobile satellite phone for smaller scale vehicle and marine applications, such as leisure watercraft, trucks and cars, and motorhomes.
“Our core businesses is the solutions provision of satellite communications. It’s not about just shifting the box, selling a couple of handheld phones and walking away. It’s about developing solutions and working closely with our corporate level customers. We’re not here for a quick fix of these companies; it’s a long-term relationship,” Jacobsen stresses.
AST Australia has offices in Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Singapore and Indonesia and over 80 signed dealers across Australasia.
FACTS AT A GLANCE
COMPANY NAME: Applied Satellite Technologies Australia
MANAGING DIRECTOR: Henrik Jacobsen
OPERATIONS: AST provides satellite hardware, airtime, service and support for the energy industry
ESTABLISHED: 1988
EMPLOYEES: 30
REVENUE: $50 million (AU)
www.asta.net.au
View Digital Corporate Profile of ASTAustralia in Energy Digital February 2010