This article was first published in the Spring/Summer 2017 issue of International Cruise & Ferry Review. All information was correct at the time of printing, but may since have changed.
Twenty years ago, mobile phones were just beginning to make their mark with the general public, and there was no such thing as a smartphone. Ten years ago, iPhones were first beginning to emerge, while tablets were practically unheard of.
Fast forward to today and people of all ages can’t contemplate going a day without such devices at their fingertips to not just handle work activities, but their day to day life, including when they are travelling or on holiday.
However, in the cruise and maritime industries, having the technology in place to allow passengers to use their devices as they would ‘on land’ has been a long time coming. This is something Pramod Arora, president and CEO at Wireless Maritime Services (WMS), is committed to remedying.
“Anything to do with communication technologies on cruise ships, we have the capabilities, talent and experience to not only improve the experience of cruise line guests, but also to help cruise lines monetise technology in ways they are not doing today,” he explains.
Based in Florida, US, WMS is helping to significantly improve connection, accessibility and service levels on cruise ships and maritime vessels. As a long-time market leader, WMS is helping cruise clients harness the incredible power of new emerging technologies to create a better passenger experience and a more sustainable and environmentally-friendly world.
“Guests these days expect to be able to use their devices and technology the same way on a cruise ship as they do at home, at work, or on a vacation in a land based resort,” he says. “Our technology – be it infrastructure, management, software, or applications – makes that possible.”
Formed 13 years ago as a joint venture majority controlled by AT&T, WMS was the first company to bring global system for mobile cellular roaming services to cruise ships. The company now has the largest market share and works with several of the largest and most luxurious cruise lines in the industry.
“When it comes to mobile technologies at sea, the network evolution on cruise ships is finally catching up to 3G and 4G cellular, although there are still a few cruise lines that need to speed up their technology upgrades from the old 2G networks,” Arora says. “Over the last few years, wi-fi has also become a big part of maritime communications, as it has for sectors such as hospitality and retail. These technologies are best used when designed and delivered in a coherent ecosystem that makes it seamless to the end users. Quite often, the fragmented way these technologies have been implemented on cruise ships makes it difficult for guests to use them in the easiest fashion, and actually hinder adoption and optimal monetisation.”
WMS provides a wide variety of services across the board, and Arora explains that cruise lines can partner more effectively in this space to effectively pursue the two main goals. The first is to make sure their passengers are happy.
“Cruise lines want their customers to enjoy the experience they have on their ships and want to come back,” he says. “Technology has increasingly become a very important part of that. If you don’t have the right technology onboard it can be a great source of dissatisfaction – not only around your company but around cruising in general. This trend is accelerating as upcoming generations, who are born and raised with mobile technology as the norm, become an increasingly bigger part of the cruise population.”
The second goal for cruise lines is to monetise their investment in improving technology infrastructure on their ships. According to Arora, these two goals are very synergistic, as long as cruise lines execute in the right manner.
“The right way to execute is to turn the monetisation strategy on its head, where we go from monetising only the consumption of technology to also using it as an enabler for alternative monetisation,” he says. “If you tax consumption of technology, the natural response is lower or selective adoption and usage, and that is opposite to what today’s cruise passengers expect.”
Arora believes that it is in this area that WMS brings the most value.
“We have a few cruise lines in Europe we have deployed new services and business models with, and they are really improving their operations,” he says. “It’s really the beginning of a revolution in this space.”
Arora is calling for cruise lines to think outside the box when it comes to their business models and the best way to monetise their use of technology.
“We are having success with cruise lines who are doing that, but a lot are still stuck in the old mindset of a single business model that has worked for them in the past,” he says. “As technology changes, we have to evolve with that. The good news is that we have borne the initial risk of testing these models, and the results are a true win-win, for cruise lines and their guests, as well as cruise lines and their partners like WMS.”
Going forward, Arora believes that as a market leader, WMS is in a unique position to help accelerate the adoption of technology on cruise ships.
“I think cruise lines are still a few years behind terrestrial technology when it comes to the penetration and the use of mobile technology,” he says. “The future for us is to continue to close that gap as quickly as possible.”
Arora adds that ultimately, the company’s vision centres on enabling cruise lines to deliver an experience for their guests that is similar, if not better, to what they can get at a land-based resort.
“We want to make sure that life on a cruise ship is no different when it comes to mobile technology than being in your office or home,” he says.