Inmarsat has signed a $220 million agreement with Hughes Network Systems and Thuraya, the United Arab Emirates satellite company, to launch mobile broadband satellite services in 2002.
The move is designed to pave the way for the launch of the Inmarsat-4 satellites. These will form a global broadband area network providing internet, intranet, video-on-demand, video conferencing, fax, e-mail, voice and local area network services to mobile users from 2004.
The Thuraya deal will allow Inmarsat to offer 144kbit/s mobile broadband services, including remote LAN access to Europe (excluding Scandinavia), northern Africa, the Middle East and the Indian subcontinent.
Inmarsat has leased capacity on the Thuraya-1 geostationary satellite, launched late last month, while Hughes will build a new ground station and a gateway to provide packet data services via the internet. Hughes will start site installation work late next year. Hughes will also develop 1kg (2.2lb) notebook-computer-sized user terminals, which will permit wired and wireless connections to computers.
The agreement is the next stage in Inmarsat's broadband strategy and will allow it to capture some of the huge broadband data service market ahead of the Inmarsat-4 service entry.
"Inmarsat's broadband communications strategy has been designed in response to the significant increase forecast in the demand for content-rich mobile wireless communications solutions," says Michael Storey, president and chief executive officer of Inmarsat Ventures. The mobile satellite market is expected to grow to over $8 billion by 2009.
The 144kbit/s Thuraya-based services will continue after the service entry of the Inmarsat-4s, says Inmarsat, adding that not all of its customers will require the 432kbit/sec data capability of the new Inmarsat satellites.
Source: Flight International
