Inmarsat Ka-Band Network Available for Government Services
Inmarsat’s Global Xpress Ka-band network is operational for government customers, it said. Inmarsat is providing service for “a handful of government customers,” who are using the new system for air and ground applications for custom configurations, said Peter Hadinger, Inmarsat Global Services president. Next-generation satellite systems are encouraging the government to work more comfortably with the private sector for its satellite capacity needs by allowing the government flexibility in use, some satellite companies said. New systems, like Global Xpress or Intelsat’s forthcoming Epic NG, will need to have efficient in-flight broadband service and increase broadband speeds to be attractive to government and private consumers, a satellite consultant said.
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The government can use Global Xpress “without pre-commitment,” Hadinger said. This allows the flexibility of deciding where and how it will use it, “pretty much at the time when the need arises,” he said. This benefit along with making it compatible with the technology the government already uses makes it easy for agencies to use Global Xpress as a complement to existing technology, he said. “Because of that, they can make decisions about when and where to deploy their own resources most effectively because they know they can count on us to fill the gaps."
Globalstar agreed that the next-generation systems will drive more choice, reduce cost and help diffuse risk, a Globalstar spokeswoman said. Globalstar’s second-generation network offers increased data speeds to government consumers and other users, she said in a statement. It allows increased engineering flexibility for applications designed specifically for government use, she said. In past years, “the inflexibility of satellite networks encouraged the government to focus capital spend[ing] through a very limited set of satellite service providers,” she said.
Inmarsat will roll out Global Xpress to other regions of the world, Hadinger said. “A number of our government customers need to operate worldwide,” he said. The system was designed to provide continuous and uniform availability around the world, he said. Coverage will expand to other regions with the launch of more satellites this year, he said.
Private consumers will most likely take up Global Xpress in flight, Hadinger said. Inmarsat is working with airlines worldwide to help them implement global connectivity solutions, he said. The use of small antennas and global coverage “makes it a very attractive solution for airlines,” he said. On the consumer side, Global Xpress-capable terminals also were incorporated into the maritime shipping fleets that deploy its Inmarsat’s Xpress Link product, he said. This base of terminals is equipped to convert to capacity on Global Xpress in the near future, he said. There also is interest from other governments for use of the system over regions like Africa and Asia Pacific, he added.
In-flight broadband availability and price will be key in the viability of these new constellations, said Roger Rusch, president of TelAstra, a satellite investment firm. It’s important for the price to be low and the service quality to be high, he said. If consumers don’t think they're getting service that’s available all the time, or the service is constrained in terms of speed, they will be unhappy with it, he said. Consumers must have the same experience in the air as they are getting at their desk or on their smartphones, he said. The price is very important because people will wait if they think the price is too high, he a said.
Global coverage also will be important, Rusch said. Systems that are limited to providing service over North America would probably be most attractive to airlines that operate only in that region, he said. However, worldwide coverage “will be a consideration for people making decisions about who they are going to operate with,” he said. (klane@warren-news.com)