Realizing cost-effective marine internet for fishermen

Offshore fishing is a common occupation providing the livelihood for tens of millions worldwide. Since each fishing trip takes 5-7 days, it could be a depressing and sometimes dangerous activity especially since the fishermen have no easy way to communicate with the mainland. Currently, there is no economically viable way to stay connected. We have developed a cost-effective system for marine internet connectivity that provides assured 40+ km range which can be further extended opportunistically. This paper describes the field trials conducted to practically realize the system and presents the encouraging results obtained.