With the coming of 3G into our lives a whole new world emerged in live data transfer. Turkish mobile operator firm Turkcell and Turkish Coastal Safety General Management announced that they will be providing a communication system between lighthouses, coastal center and ships via a new telemetry project. There are some local examples in United States and Europe for this kind of data transfer but none of them are so organized in a network structure. So this is a unique example and shows us how 3G changes our world.
A signature ceremony and press conference was organized at Istanbul, Anadoluhisari Coastal Safety General Management Social Facilities on Wednesday by Turkcell and Coastal Safety General Management regarding their new project titled “Remote Management of Lighthouses”. Turkcell is announced as the contractor firm responsible of software development and transmission of the collected data between lighthouses and center. Turkish Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım, Coastal Safety General Manager Salih Orakci and Turkcell CEO Sureyya Civil attended the ceremony and press conference.
During his speech at the ceremony, Salih Orakci said 185 lighthouses have been set ready for electronic navigational concepts with this project. Indicating the project was primarily initiated in straits (Boshporus and Dardanelles); Orakci stated that they have ongoing efforts to expand the project to Aegean Sea and Black Sea.
Turkcell CEO Sureyya Ciliv also made a speech during the ceremony and underlined that the world has entered a new era with the development of 3G. Ciliv stated that the new technologies do not only link people to each other but also links the devices, and with this project the far-away, unreachable lighthouses will be linked to the coastal safety center. Ciliv continued his speech informing that the project will raise the data receiving distance from 5 km to 50 km and enable a safer navigation for the ships and expressed his happiness for contributing the modernization of lighthouses.
After Ciliv, Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım gave a speech and informed the press that this project, which is based on collecting data from lighthouses and delivering them to coastal safety center, is the first applied coastal solution in world. Underlining that approximately 55 to 60.000 ships are passing the straits every year, Minister Yildirim claimed that the project will supply essential data about ship movements, accidents, and weather conditions via remote sensing and therefore provide a full control to coastal safety over straits. Replying a question from the press, Yildirim stated that the installation cost of the project is 1.164.000 Euros and they chose Turkcell as the contractor because it was the “cheapest and best” offer in auction.
Initially the communication distance of the 185 lighthouses will be raised 10 times with the project. With the continuous data flow over data lines rapid determination of breakdowns in lighthouses and immediate response will be provided in addition to continuous navigation aid services. Via using Automated Identification System component, project will raise the data receiving distance from 5 km to 50 km and enable a safer navigation for the ships. Ships will also be able to obtain traffic information and weather and sea conditions around the lighthouses.
The lighthouses connected to the system will be raised to 430 by the end of 2011.
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