Alan Spicer Marine Telecom Main BLOG

"...laying the foundations over which FleetBroadband will operate." that's a quote from the Inmarsat web site:

http://maritime.inmarsat.com/news/00018863.aspx?language=EN&textonly=False

* That seems to indicate that "Fleet Broadband" isn't ready to go yet, but they're working on it... This article seems to indicate that the new Inmarsat I-4 will offer improved coverage for the Atlantic Ocean Region West (a.k.a. AOR-W). The article also seems to indicate that it's a Plug-and-Play thing to use the I-4 satellite if you are in the AOR-W region and all you would have to do would be to switch to it from the handset.

Additionally the following note appears on:

http://maritime.inmarsat.com/coverage/default.aspx
* Inmarsat has been forced to transfer maritime services in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) from Inmarsat-4 Satellite to the IOR Inmarsat -3 Satellite due to a radio spectrum allocation issue with another satellite operator. While in the Atlantic Region, the transition of Inmarsat maritime digital services from Inmarsat-3 F4 to Inmarsat-4 F2 are scheduled for Sunday, January 15 2006 at 14:00 UTC.
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Fleet Broadband looks like it's going to be the upgrade path (or new system path) for many yachts using Fleet (33/55/77) systems (or considering what broadband satellite system to get.) No doubt that would be the BGAN for Marine, whereas all of the talk about BGAN right now seems to be towards smaller portable terminals, not terminals with auto-antenna tracking for yachts (and other marine vessels.)

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The Whole article reads:

Enhancements to digital maritime services in AOR-W
19-12-2005 - Users of digital maritime services in Atlantic Ocean Region West (AOR-W) will benefit from enhanced coverage with the entry into commercial servie of the second Inmarsat-4 (I-4) satellite.

In-orbit testing (IOT) of the I-4's payload is now complete and the satellite is being drifted to its operational location at 53 degrees West above northern Brazil.

Piers Cunningham, head of Maritime Market Management at Inmarsat: "This transition will substantially enhance the coverage of maritime services that utilize spot-beams in the AOR-W ocean region.

"It will also ensure that the service reliability for which Inmarsat is renowned continues for many years to come, as well as laying the foundations over which FleetBroadband will operate."

Immediate benefit
The services that will immediately benefit from the coverage enhancement in the AOR-W ocean region are outlined below.

All other services (including safety service provision) remain unaffected.

Inmarsat Fleet F77 - 128kbps ISDN data
Inmarsat Fleet F55 - 64kbps ISDN data, MPDS & fax
Inmarsat F33 - 9.6kbps data, MPDS & fax
Inmarsat mini-M - voice, fax and data services.
In summary, maritime spot-beam service provision within this ocean region will be accessible within the satellites global footprint. There may be delays to the timing which may be unforeseen and Inmarsat will provide updated information as and when available. To benefit from enhanced coverage, terminals within the coverage of the second I-4 in the AOR-W will have to ensure they are logged on to AOR-W.

Additional information is available at www.inmarsat.com/coverage.
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Alan Spicer
Alan Spicer Telecom
http://telecom.dyndns.biz/