Inmarsat, a company better known in these parts as a provider of satellite navigation for shipping and fishing boats, has launched a broadband service for those places that high speed connectivity cannot reach.
The service which is due to go to full commercial launch in June follows a deal between Inmarsat and defence company Thales UK. The resulting Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) service while not the fastest around at 492Kbps will provide connectivity in areas outwith the reach of conventional DSL, cable broadband and other forms of mobile and fixed communications.
The BGAN service has most notably been used in the US to co-ordinate emergency services when other networks have gone down, and as a satellite link for the media on assignment to remote areas with no communications. But now it is to be rolled out to a wider audience of businesses users unable to receive other types of broadband connection in rural areas and in connectivity blackspots.
But, of course, the service comes at a price, about $1 per minute for voice calls and $8 per megabyte of data, pitching the Inmarsat offering at the business user who needs a completely flexible mobile computing solution when working in remote or challenging environments, in the field or at sea.
To get online with the BGAN network, users need a satellite antenna terminal, roughly the size of a small laptop, that costs from $500 upwards. In order to home in on the satellite, the terminal is fitted with a GPS receiver so it knows exactly where it is. The terminal sends this information to the user’s laptop and the BGAN software then tells the users where to point the satellite terminal to get the best possible signal from the satellite.
According to Inmarsat, “Inmarsat’s Broadband Global Area Network – BGAN – is the world’s first mobile communications service of any kind to provide both voice and broadband data simultaneously through a single, truly portable device on a global basis. It is also the first mobile communications service to offer guaranteed data rates on demand.”
