interWAVE® Communications announced its products would be deployed aboard the Brittany Ferries cruise ship, Val de Loire, to provide full GSM wireless coverage for its passengers. In a strategic alliance with Geolink, satellite service provider and integrator for Brittany Ferries, interWAVE’s wireless GSM Network In A Box will interface with Geolink’s VSAT system to enable passengers with standard GSM mobile phones to receive and place calls aboard the ship.

interWAVE’s innovative wireless application utilizes the latest in scaleable GSM network elements, satellite back haul compression and transmission techniques. The product deployment is scheduled for completion before the end of the year.Satellite-fed telephone private branch exchanges (PBXs) on board ships have been available for several years, but this is the first time that a real GSM base station has been installed on a cruise ship for passenger use.