History
2009
2009 earned MCP two new market breakthroughs. This time it was the Italian and German market and contracts have been made respectively with Italian Caronte & Tourist, TTTlines, Grimaldi Lines and German AIDA Cruises adding six more ships to the list which benefits from MCP’s services. As far as AIDA Cruises is concerned the contract covers all newbuilds making the above mentioned list even longer for the coming years.
MCP’s good relation to DFDS has been further strengthened through a new contract concerning DFDS Lisco’s Ropax ships. On these ships MCP has also installed WLAN in addition to Smyril Line’s Norrøna ferry.
The Caribbean Princess hosted attendants on the Commonwealth conference at Trinidad. MCP antenna network utilized in cooperation between Princess, TSTT and MCP, providing shore based cellular network for the conference participants while in the berthed ship. For further details, see separate press release: http://dynamic.protu.no/pictures/207/files/What%20if%20governmental(1).pdf
During the year we have seen several launches for new ships from fleets that already are under contract with MCP. This includes Golden Iris from Mano Maritime, Bahamas Celebration from Celebration Cruise Line and finally Stena Nautica which is added to the long list of Stena ships with MCP’s services onboard.
MCP’s CrewSIM services have been deployed on the entire Fred Olsen Cruise Lines fleet and the CrewSIM services has been extended to GPRS coverage in addition to voice and text.
2008
MCP’s recognition of service, quality and support towards our customers was reflected by signing four contract extensions during the year: P&O Cruises, Ocean Village Holidays, DFDS and Stena Line.
Color Line chooses MCP’s CellAtSea™ for its most recent additions to their fleet the SuperSpeed I and II. The vessels provide a quick and comfortable journey to its passenger by cruising to a speed of 27 knots.
In September MCP’s signed and alliance with Asia’s leading satellite service provider, SingTel, to make a strong value proposition to the maritime industry. SingTel will offer GSM communications at sea as a part of their Office@Sea suite of global maritime solutions.
Regarding new services MCP launched at the SMM in Hamburg the HotSpot solutions, feature that offers the flexibility of choosing the cellular coverage that best matches the individual onboard needs; and CrewSIM™ which is a prepaid mobile subscription, developed specifically for crewmembers.
MCP has continued in the forefront in developing an international roaming portfolio including both data (GPRS) and prepaid (CAMEL). Passengers connected to MCP’s CellAtSea™ enjoy unparallel roaming coverage.
2007
2007- Now that MCP is well established and operating in the world theater, we continue to acquire more subscribers, ship contracts and install our services. P&O Australia join with Princess/Cunard to install MCP system. There are 1,000,000,000 possible users of the MCP network when KT Freetel Korea joins the MCP community. The first ship to circumnavigate the globe with CellAtSea system installed is completed with stellar results.
MCP has 50 ships in operation and 200 roaming partners are now in place. Gross revenue is increased by 50%. With the growth of MCP marching forward, the office is relocated from Grimstad to the Telenor building in Arendal, Norway and Pål Bjørdal is appointed as the new CEO. The Mayor of Arendal and the Chief Municipal Executive welcome MCP to town in an official ceremony.
2006
2006 – The US operators T-Mobile and Sprint came aboard to start the year, (Verizon will join later) followed by new subscriber calls from a US based cruise ship. In the European region MCP acquired the contract for the entire Color Line fleet.
We had our first ever cruise ships in the Black Sea, Pacific Ocean and Panama Canal. The first Yacht installed MCP services, while Master Ferries, Polferries and Fred Olsen Cruise Lines signed up. MCP took 100% coverage of ferries going to and from Norway and now had 92 operators and 100 roaming partners with a new all time high of 50 simultaneous calls. Telenor, the 7th largest mobile operator in the world, made a bid to take over MCP and the bid was accepted.
2006 – The US operators T-Mobile and Sprint came aboard to start the year, (Verizon will join later) followed by new subscriber calls from a US based cruise ship. In the European region MCP acquired the contract for the entire Color Line fleet.
We had our first ever cruise ships in the Black Sea, Pacific Ocean and Panama Canal. The first Yacht installed MCP services, while Master Ferries, Polferries and Fred Olsen Cruise Lines signed up. MCP took 100% coverage of ferries going to and from Norway and now had 92 operators and 100 roaming partners with a new all time high of 50 simultaneous calls. Telenor, the 7th largest mobile operator in the world, made a bid to take over MCP and the bid was accepted.
2005
2005 ‘Growth’ would be the buzz word for 2005 with MCP’s interests reaching beyond the European region. On the technology side the Customer Console feature that allows ship owners to view statistics and ship tracking started. After the MCP office went live in Grimstad, Norway in April, the USA office was established in Miami, Florida and would be fully staffed by mid 2008. Norfolk Line, Irish Ferries and Fjord Line signed up, and the first site survey was performed in the Bahamas with the Carnival Legend.
We had a live ship in the Mediterranean and another south of the equator. Mid-year MCP had its first large cruise ship in operation in Europe and the first call from a Caribbean cruise ship was from the Carnival Conquest. By the end of the year we had 70 roaming partners, 20 cruise ships in operation and SMS and CDMA was up and running. MCP had an all time high of 34 simultaneous calls and reached another milestone when we launched our first GPRS roaming with Tele2 (Comviq), Sweden.
2005 ‘Growth’ would be the buzz word for 2005 with MCP’s interests reaching beyond the European region. On the technology side the Customer Console feature that allows ship owners to view statistics and ship tracking started. After the MCP office went live in Grimstad, Norway in April, the USA office was established in Miami, Florida and would be fully staffed by mid 2008. Norfolk Line, Irish Ferries and Fjord Line signed up, and the first site survey was performed in the Bahamas with the Carnival Legend.
We had a live ship in the Mediterranean and another south of the equator. Mid-year MCP had its first large cruise ship in operation in Europe and the first call from a Caribbean cruise ship was from the Carnival Conquest. By the end of the year we had 70 roaming partners, 20 cruise ships in operation and SMS and CDMA was up and running. MCP had an all time high of 34 simultaneous calls and reached another milestone when we launched our first GPRS roaming with Tele2 (Comviq), Sweden.
2004
2004 proved to be a banner year overflowing with a number of ‘firsts’. It started in January with a factory acceptance test on P&O and Stena Lines and the first call from ship to shore followed by the first outgoing call to a public phone from a ship, the P&O Calais. Our GSMA membership was approved and MCP was fully financed. Then Telenor mobile network and Polish firm, ERA were our first roaming operators followed by MCP’s first patent approval by mid year. The signing of our first commercial contract with the Danish ferry operator DFDS was the next to take a first place flag but not to be outdone was the Pearl and Crown of Scandinavia going “live” the beginning of December.
More exciting milestones were to come in the final month of 2004. Our CDMA development group membership was approved. Finally, the single most important breakthrough that kept the burgeoning MCP in the big game was the A-bis solution. MCP’s superior technology engineers moved the transmission base station from ship to shore cutting operating costs significantly. This was a massive cost saver that allowed MCP to move forward and gain a solid foothold in the industry. The year came to a close by signing the Stena Line contract, the single largest contract in the world so far.
2004 proved to be a banner year overflowing with a number of ‘firsts’. It started in January with a factory acceptance test on P&O and Stena Lines and the first call from ship to shore followed by the first outgoing call to a public phone from a ship, the P&O Calais. Our GSMA membership was approved and MCP was fully financed. Then Telenor mobile network and Polish firm, ERA were our first roaming operators followed by MCP’s first patent approval by mid year. The signing of our first commercial contract with the Danish ferry operator DFDS was the next to take a first place flag but not to be outdone was the Pearl and Crown of Scandinavia going “live” the beginning of December.
More exciting milestones were to come in the final month of 2004. Our CDMA development group membership was approved. Finally, the single most important breakthrough that kept the burgeoning MCP in the big game was the A-bis solution. MCP’s superior technology engineers moved the transmission base station from ship to shore cutting operating costs significantly. This was a massive cost saver that allowed MCP to move forward and gain a solid foothold in the industry. The year came to a close by signing the Stena Line contract, the single largest contract in the world so far.
2003
In 2003 investors where showing interest in the business idea and by the middle of the year, MCP was owned by three major companies. In the same year the NPT granted MCP the title of national operator and in September the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) approved the application for International Operator. On October 23rd the first satellite call was made.
In 2003 investors where showing interest in the business idea and by the middle of the year, MCP was owned by three major companies. In the same year the NPT granted MCP the title of national operator and in September the ITU (International Telecommunications Union) approved the application for International Operator. On October 23rd the first satellite call was made.
2002
In 2002, the project and the company were formally established and a year later the first demonstration was shown to the world.
In 2002, the project and the company were formally established and a year later the first demonstration was shown to the world.
2000
In2000 MCP was conceived in the mind of visionary engineers. Seeing the necessity to provide communications while at sea they created the model of a communications platform that allowed passengers of cruise & ferries to use their own mobile phone wherever they were at sea.
In2000 MCP was conceived in the mind of visionary engineers. Seeing the necessity to provide communications while at sea they created the model of a communications platform that allowed passengers of cruise & ferries to use their own mobile phone wherever they were at sea.
2008- MCP made a definite breakthrough in the American market by successfully completing the largest rollout in our history after signing a contract to install and operate the cellular network onboard all ships in Princess Cruises, Cunard Lines and P&O Australia’s fleet. The agreement is to provide mobile services to 21 vessels.