Inmarsat, a leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services, has announced a pathway product to its future Global Xpress (GX) service.

This provides maritime users with access to both Ku-band VSAT and L-band FleetBroadband services in a bundled package, said a statement.

Initially available from Ship Equip and Stratos, Inmarsat’s direct distribution channel, the new offering will deliver a fully-integrated managed service for an inclusive monthly fixed fee.  It is intended to be available to all GX-appointed distributors, it said.

Designed to provide a bridge to Inmarsat’s Ka-band Global Xpress service, the package includes a guaranteed free hardware upgrade when Inmarsat’s new service becomes available in 2013.

With a suggested retail price of $2,999/month for 60 months, it offers:
• Ku-band hardware, approved by Inmarsat as upgradable to Ka-band
• FleetBroadband (FB500) hardware
• Airtime at 512kpbs/512kbps, with a committed information rate (CIR) of 128kbps
• Inclusive FleetBroadband airtime where the VSAT service is not available
• The complete range of Ship Equip and Stratos applications and support products
• Guaranteed free upgrade from the Ku-band hardware to Ka-band Global Xpress
• Guaranteed double bandwidth upgrade on Global Xpress: 1Mbps/1Mbps and 256kbps CIR.

“This is an exceptional value proposition.  It gives the maritime industry a clear path to the true broadband services that Global Xpress will deliver and removes risk from upgrading now,” said Frank Coles, senior director of maritime for Global Xpress.

“It is currently the only approved Global Xpress upgrade path.  We intend to appoint further GX distribution partners, who will also be able to offer this winning proposition.

“Combined, Ship Equip and Stratos offer unprecedented capability, service and support for both FleetBroadband and Ku-band VSAT, and are ideally placed to bring this unique value-driven solution to the market,” he said.

The announcement follows the recent introduction of fixed fee options on FleetBroadband, which provide very large allowances for merchant fleets that want the functionality and reliability of an L-band service with predictable fixed costs, the statement said. – TradeArabia News Service