Telecommunications in Antarctica

Communications have changed the isolation and experience of being in Antarctica more than any other single factor.

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1911 - Letters and parcels carried by 3 ships a year that came in the brief summer months.

No radio. Communication was by writing on paper or being with someone to speak to them. Arrangements for off base rendezvous or similar would be for a particular day, give or take a couple with no way of alerting of a change of plan. Emergency messages delivered on foot.

There was no such job as radio operator, communications manager or similar.

1986 - Letters and parcels carried by 3 ships a year, plus 200 words a month each way to nominated address by fax machine and a satellite link, back to the UK and then by post.

Daily (work) messages were sent and arrived by fax. Personal phone calls available by satellite at own expense ($22.20 / £17.50 a minute 2024 equivalent). When off base VHF radios were used, these were required for boating, a daily radio sched was recommended when staying off base overnight.

The base had a communications specialist, a Wireless Operator Mechanic (WOM) present year round to install, run and maintain the telecommunications equipment.

2016 - Michal's base sees two ships a year about two months apart in the summer months which bring and take letters and parcels. I asked him for an up to date perspective of communications.

How many hours a day do you have internet access?
The Internet is on normally for 24 hours a day. We're still able to use a geostationary satellite, I think we're as far South (75°S) as is possible to see the geostationary satellite; any further south and it would disappear below the horizon. We're using a large Satellite Dish - it's diameter is 3.6m if I'm correct and it's pointing almost horizontally. There is a brief period just before the last sunset and just after the first sunrise when the sun gets exactly behind the geostationary satellite we use and that seems to interfere with the signal for about 5 minutes or so. But this only takes about a week or so around that time of the year when the sun is low above the horizon.

How reliable is that access?
It's very reliable. In fact we've recently had a link upgrade and it has been very comfortable to use, as long as nobody downloads any large files without managing the bandwidth. It's a bit more of a challenge to use in summer, when there are upwards of 60 people on base, but it's still usable.

Presumably there are limits on live streaming or large file up/down loads?
That's correct. There's no Skype or anything similar and people are asked not to use Youtube or other streaming services. With regards to downloading large files, we can either do that ourselves as long as we manage the throughput (and generally tend to limit it to about 10% of the link bandwidth or so), or people can ask the Comms Manager to schedule a managed download for them.

Is Skype or similar available or allowed?
It's generally not allowed. We have used it once or twice for semi-official skype calls with certain people as a publicity thing. For example, on a Midwinter night, we've had a Skype conference with people who wintered at Halley 50 years ago. But normally we're asked not to use Skype for personal calls, and when we use it for official purpose, the link needs to be managed (which effectively means everyone is requested to not use the Internet throughout that time).

Radios seem quite prominent in many of your pictures, are they a requirement when going outside?
Especially in Winter everyone should have a radio with them each time they leave the modules. In addition, even when on the modules, most people tend to carry those around with them. Similarly in Summer, although when there are a lot of people on base there may not be enough radios for everyone - in such case, every team needs to have at least one radio between them. In addition, all vehicles and external buildings / cabooses have VHF radios installed too. We also have HF radios on base. These are connected to the large comms array east of the modules, and are used to maintain comms with field parties as well as with aircraft. These radios tend to be used primarily in summer, however the Midwinter broadcast is also transmitted on HF, and we were able to pick it up and listen to it, which was very nice.

One thing you haven't asked about is the phones. We're using VoIP phones and the phone calls are sent over the satellite link alongside the Internet traffic. We can use phones for personal calls, but have to use calling cards to cover the cost of the calls. We're therefore not as isolated from our loved ones as people were even 20 years ago. I can call home every evening if I want to and the quality is pretty amazing, to be honest - sometimes to the point that it's easy to forget we're 14,000km away from home.

Mike - Michal Krzysztofowicz - Mike's blog | Mike's pictures

note - Paul - webmaster. The cost of phoning home from Antarctica in 2016 is about 650 times less than it was 30 years ago in 1986, 2p rather than £13 a minute.

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