I'd recommend anything but satellite. Sure you can get access from nearly anywhere, but there are some major draw backs inherent to the technology. I'm not an expert in satellite technology, but from what I understand, most people are pulling out of that market.

The problems:
*Delay, which causes video conf, skype, etc to be really painful
*Unreliable, due to weather, etc
*Expensive
*A dying technology

Some other options?
1. Wireless: Not sure what PNG is like, but is there any form of cellular network? You may even look into setting up your own cellular network or some sort of data over radio scheme, although this may be expensive and require a license.

2. Phone modems:
Sure, modems are slow, but compressed streams can be made to fit on these, and sometimes you need lower latency rather than a fatter pipe. You can browse (albeit slowly), and probably even do some low quality voip and limited video conf on it, without delay.

http://www.satelusa.com/index.html

wireless over radio for long-range connectivity.

Hi David,

Thanks for the link. Where the ship will be heading in Papua New Guinea (PNG) there is no cellular network, no wireless and no telephone infrastructure. The ship will have to be self-reliant for any and all communications, which is why they were looking at satellite as an option.

There are companies in PNG that offer wireless internet connectivity, but from all my research it is limited to Port Moresby only.

You are certainly correct about the troubles with Satellite Internet, especially when it comes to latency issues, but unfortunately in many areas of the world satellite remains the only option.

Bill

What's the distance away from the closest city? If satellite is your only option then the decision is simple :)

New in the last few years is the roll-out of Internet service with mobile phone service covering vast areas of PNG that had no telephone service at all just 4 years ago. See http://digicelpng.com/ for more information about the largest of these networks. Internet service is also available at a lower price but much smaller service area from Telikom PNG. The cost for Internet services from Digicel is about K2 per megabyte transferred, or about US $0.70 per megabyte. See http://digicelpng.com/. If you were in port at Port Moresby, Lae, or Madang, you could use either of those services. Obviously, I don't recommend streaming video at that price, even if the bandwidth were adequate. It is OK for a few emails, though. The last time I tried it, their online top-up didn't work, so you might have to go ashore and buy top-up cards for Digicel Internet service.

Due to government restrictions, it is hard to get economical satellite service in PNG. However, if you work in conjunction with Divine Word University (http://www.dwu.ac.pg/), you might be able to get a deal that is tolerable.

If you need to work outside of the mobile phone/Internet coverage area, or if you need high reliability, you will need satellite service.