Malagasy Cup Uses Satcom to Stay Connected

We recognize the what cup? might be your first response to the title of this post. What is this, as Rocco asked, a geography lesson?

Well, sort of. Malagasy, of course, refers to Madagascar, and the Malagasy Cup is a race from Anakao to Andavadoaka “for traditional Malagasy vessels, boutry and pirogue/lakarna vezo…. with dozens of vessels making the 200 kilometre journey in five stages stopping at: Tulear; Ifaty; Salary; Ambatamilo and finally Andavadoaka.”

Anakoa looks particularly inviting to us on this gray rainy East Coast of America day:

Vizada is helping the general public follow the race:

 New video satellite communications will make it possible for the general public to follow the five stages of the Malagasy Cup…  occurring along the Madagascar Coast. This is because Vizada (formerly FTMSC) and Satellite Air Time will manage the race communications as well as communicate photos and videos from these remote areas. The BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) service will allow journalists to follow the race as well as to send video and photo reports from the race’s five, staging point villages. The BGAN laptop sized satellite terminal uses high-speed Internet connections of up to 492 kbps to send large volume of data in areas that lack mainstream telecom networks.

Iridium satphones will allow competitors and organizers the ability to stay in permanent contact with the capital city, Antananarivo, as 200 canoes and 30 dhows cross the staring line of the Malagasy Cup. This is a 200 km race along the world’s third largest reef in southwest Madagascar and offers a unique opportunity to showcase the traditional sailing boats of the Vezo “people of the sea” as well as the preserved landscape of this area of the world.

Vizada is also a reseller of aeronautical satcom services from Inmarsat; two days ago, they announced the release of Swiftbroadband, which is “Inmarsat’s first fully IP-based, high-speed data service offering broadband in-flight connectivity including both cockpit communications and cabin applications.”

But back to Madagascar. Among its many fascinating natural wonders are lemurs; check out this video on YouTube to experience them firsthand.

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