DECEMBER 15, 2021 – After 26 years, the Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM) is officially ending its Afloat Personal Telecommunications Service (APTS) on Dec. 31, 2021.
APTS provided personal calling on board select deployed U.S. Navy ships, using high quality satellite connectivity.
Phone service will continue to be provided for ships deployed by Dec. 31, 2021.
“It has been an honor to support our deployed Sailors and Marines with the ability to call loved ones back home,” said Mary Johnson, Vice President, NEXCOM’s Telecommunications Program Office.
“However, due to a decline in demand along with an increase in operations and maintenance expenses with ongoing testing and popular usage of satellite Wi-Fi technology, the service has become unsustainable.”
As part of this service, NEXCOM sold AT&T worldwide prepaid phone cards in the ships store. These cards can still be used ashore on landline and wireless phones in all foreign and domestic ports where AT&T has a presence.
In 1994, the Chief of Naval Operations designated NEXCOM as the Navy’s program manager for unofficial personal telecommunications.
NEXCOM’s Telecommunications Program Office (TPO) serves as the Navy’s program manager for all ashore and afloat personal use telecommunications. The Ashore Program provides a variety of telecommunications services on Navy installations worldwide.
By contracting with various vendors, TPO provides Wi-Fi services for NEX locations, brigs, Navy hospitals, unaccompanied housing, overseas family housing and Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) facilities such as Liberty Centers, libraries, Child Development Centers, RV parks and bowling alleys.
In addition, hospitality telecommunications services, including Wi-Fi and in-room telephones, are provided to Navy Lodges and Navy Gateway Inns & Suites (NGIS) locations worldwide.
Story by Kristine Sturkie
Navy Exchange Service Command