Stratos Distributes New Harris Corporation BGAN Terminals

January 18, 2010

Stratos Global Corporation, has become a global distributor of Harris Corporation's new ruggedized BGAN terminals. Stratos will distribute the terminals via its direct sales force and its global network of channel partners.
 
The Harris RF-7800B BGAN terminals are designed to military standards to enable operations in harsh climate and other challenging environments. They are the latest additions to Stratos' versatile portfolio of BGAN hardware products, which already includes offerings from ViaSat, Addvalue, Hughes and Thrane & Thrane.
 
Available for both land-portable and vehicular applications, the Harris RF-7800B terminals provide Stratos customers with an affordable, high-performance, military-rugged satellite solution. The terminals are ideally suited for military and first-responder users, as well as commercial users in the energy and mining markets.
 
The Harris RF-7800 BGAN terminals are designed for voice and data connectivity in beyond-line-of-sight, SATCOM-on-the-move and SATCOM-at-the-quick-halt applications. When linked to next-generation
Harris Falcon III manpack radios or SecNet 54 encryption modules, the RF-7800B terminals provide unique, end-to-end Type-1 security for data transmissions over long-range commercial networks. The RF-7800B terminals also can be utilized as stand-alone terminals in other configurations to extend voice and data connectivity.
 
The first two products in the Harris Tactical BGAN line are the RF-7800B-DU024, a Class 2 Land Portable BGAN terminal for dismounted applications, and the RF-7800B-VU104, a Class 10 Land Mobile BGAN terminal for vehicles on the move. Both terminals meet MIL-STD-810F requirements and are specifically designed to work in harsh environments where commercial units are inadequate.
 
BGAN from Stratos is a mobile satellite offering that uses portable, lightweight terminals to provide simultaneous, high-speed data (up to 492 kbps) and voice connectivity anywhere in the world. Inmarsat BGAN is ideally suited to enable communications in areas where terrestrial or cellular networks are damaged, congested, non-existent or too difficult to deploy. Stratos now boasts more than 11,500 BGAN activations for military & NGO agencies, media organizations, first responders and professionals in many other industries in 185 countries worldwide.
 
"We're pleased to work with Stratos to distribute this critical new communications capability to military and commercial users with demanding requirements," said Bill Beamish, Director of Product Line Management for Falcon III Radios at Harris Corporation. "Stratos offers a leading global support network and a highly regarded set of value-added services. They are positioned to deliver the benefits of BGAN and our new terminals to customers worldwide."
 

Stratos President and CEO Jim Parm said, "These new Harris ruggedized terminals meet the needs of military forces, first responders, media organizations, and energy and mining companies operating in harsh environments. The RF-7800B product line will particularly benefit military users, by allowing them to transmit Type-1 data and access intelligence networks anywhere in the world, including in the most adverse environmental conditions. This reach-back capability further ties commanders to personnel at the edge, allowing for more rapid and better-informed decision making."