By Tampnet Press Release
November 9, 2017

Stavanger, Norway — Tampnet, the leading provider of high-capacity, low-latency telecommunication infrastructure and services for the offshore and maritime industry, has been awarded a long term contract to operate the shared telecommunications infrastructure of the Oil & Gas companies operating on the Dutch continental shelf.

The scope of the contract is to safely and successfully operate, upgrade, develop and maintain the telecom infrastructure, making the Dutch Oil & Gas industry leading in technology development and ongoing digitalisation processes. The contract is awarded for an initial period of 6 years, followed by options of 4 years each.

Tampnet will tie the existing telecom network into its existing subsea fibre based infrastructure in the North Sea, adding flexibility and redundancy to the TOUGH members. The LTE “cloud” on the Dutch sector will merge into the overall North Sea coverage, and provide a seamless and standardised offshore LTE services between Norway, the Netherlands and the UK.

The shared offshore telecommunications infrastructure is crucial to the TOUGH members operations for both operations and safety. The existing infrastructure covers 110 offshore sites, physically implemented over a network that includes offshore microwave links, fibre optic cables, switching and routing equipment, transmission equipment as well as various onshore communications links. The network is used to provide voice, data, process control and other critical communication services between the offshore installations and onshore locations. Tampnet will throughout the life of the contract upgrade and improve the existing network to also include 4G LTE as one of the main technologies used. The network will also be built to support Narrowband Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technologies to support the industrial digitalization efforts to work smarter, more efficient and safer.

Digitalization is important for the offshore Oil & Gas industry and these companies are working consistently to digitize their work processes and implement new technologies. In order to reap the benefits of technological advances and achieve efficiencies, significant steps towards digitalisation must be taken. 4G LTE is key to digitalization onshore and will be so on an offshore platform, rig or vessel. Expanding the LTE coverage into the Dutch sector will further enable the North Sea offshore industry to rely on standardised 4G LTE services and hence be in a better position to develop the advantages of digitalisation.

Tampnet CEO, Per Helge Svensson comments: “We are very humble and grateful for yet again being awarded and acknowledged for our expertise in delivering high-capacity and low latency communications offshore. We are proud to be selected for this demanding but exciting task by no less than nine oil companies in total, and we look forward to working closely with each one of them. The award of this contract is a major addition to our ever-growing offshore footprint in the North Sea, Gulf of Mexico and other regions, and it expands the reach of our value proposition.

About TOUGH:
TOUGH (Telecoms Offshore User Group Holland) is a group of nine operators of offshore Oil & Gas assets on the Dutch continental shelf, using jointly an offshore telecommunication and data network, covering approx. 110 offshore sites and is consisting out of the following companies:

  • TAQA Energy B.V.
  • Centrica Production Nederland B.V.
  • ENGIE E&P Nederland B.V.
  • Nederlandse Aardolie Maatschappij B.V.
  • Dana Petroleum Netherlands B.V.
  • Total E&P Nederland B.V.
  • Petrogas E&P Netherlands B.V.
  • Wintershall Noordzee B.V.
  • Oranje-Nassau Energie B.V.

About Tampnet:
Tampnet operates the largest offshore high capacity communication network in the world and serves more than 240 Oil & Gas platforms, FPSO’s and exploration rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and the North Sea. In total, Tampnet owns and operates an offshore infrastructure network based on 2,500km of subsea fibre optic cable in the North Sea, complemented with a large number of high-capacity, carrier grade radio links and an extensive 4G LTE network.

 

For more information, please contact:

Tampnet
Per Atle Sørensen, Managing Director North Sea

Phone: +47 916 43 043
Email: [email protected]

Per Helge Svensson, Chief Executive Officer
Mobile: +47 905 29 868
Email: [email protected]

www.tampnet.com