In an interview with SuperyachtNews earlier this year, Ole-Kristian Sivertsen, senior vice president of maritime at Global Eagle hinted at a big announcement to come from MTN Yacht Service this summer. It has now been revealed that the announcement is a new luxury brand. The new company, PRIVA, is set to replace MTN Yacht Service, Global Eagle’s 2016 acquisition that has operated solely in the yacht connectivity business.

PRIVA, however, is expected to expand the company’s ability to reach ultra-high net worth individuals around the world. PRIVA will aim to serve clients across a host of assets, for example on land at a private villa, at sea on a superyacht, and in the air on a private jet. This will take advantage of Global Eagle’s established businesses in air, sea and land.

Speaking exclusively to SuperyachtNews, Sivertsen explains that the decision to rebrand and diversify has come about from client demand. “We have had clients with private jets and yachts asking us for a seamless connectivity experience across both,” he says. “It is more economic and efficient for these clients to buy a pool of bandwidth and use it across all their assets – whether that be on land, at sea or in the air.”

Global Eagle is currently the largest commercial buyer of satellite capacity, including for more than 150 airlines, cruise lines and more than 1,600 ships of all size and is, therefore, in a capable position to offer this kind of service. The company also has a far-reaching content catalogue, which had helped it introduce MTN's entertainment platform Maestro Media to enable users to access on-demand movies, live TV and special live events. 

“We have been a leader in yacht communications for years, and since we are now part of a large global company, we are bringing that strength to the market and connecting VIP individuals in innovative ways with enriched service and entertainment options,” Sivertsen adds. “PRIVA and its 24/7 concierge technical service are tailored to those high-end clients who want to be connected and access their customised content from anywhere in the world.”

As previously covered by SuperyachtNews, Global Eagle will now support customer needs with a new 24-hour VVIP customer service programme, whereby technicians and support teams are available any time from PRIVA Technical Concierge centres in Florida and Spain. This makes PRIVA the first VSAT provider in the yachting industry to have dedicated VVIP support centres. 

As part of this service, each client is assigned a team of specialists, including an account manager, solutions architect and service manager to address a solution for each specific need. The PRIVA Technical Concierge centres went live on 1 July, 2017.

It has been a consistent aim for Sivertsen and his team to challenge the superyacht industry’s languid attitude that it is simply not possible to achieve the same quality of connectivity at sea as on land. With PRIVA, the company will certainly want to bring the ‘at home’ experience on board as well as in the air.

Image: Ole-Kristian Sivertsen

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