Inmarsat Appoints First Land Terminal Manufacturing Partners for Global Xpress

 

6 September, 2012  

Inmarsat has signed Cobham Satcom, Paradigm Comm and Skyware Global as initial launch partners for land satellite terminals for its forthcoming Global Xpress service.

Scheduled for service introduction in 2014, Global Xpress will offer unprecedented high data rate (HDR) bandwidth and global coverage. The Ka-band satellite network will provide super-fast uplink and downlink data rates, all backed by Inmarsat quality standards, performance and global reach.

Inmarsat’s Global Xpress partner companies will manufacture commercial land satellite terminals from 0.6 to 2.4 metres (either in a manual configuration or a fully automatic/automatic acquire configuration) covering the fixed, transportable, ‘fly-away’ and ‘manpack’ terminal types. The range of terminals has been specifically designed for operation in the Ka-band and will utilise a new Core Module developed by VT iDirect (“iDirect”). Working together, iDirect’s Core Module and the partners’ terminals will provide state-of-the-art capabilities, fully consistent with the Global Xpress objective of delivering up to 50Mbps downlink speeds with 60cm aperture terminals.

The signing of the first three land terminal manufacturing partners represents a strong endorsement of Inmarsat’s Global Xpress service innovation, and will ensure availability of high-speed Global Xpress land satellite terminals at service introduction.

Leo Mondale, Managing Director of Global Xpress, said: “Cobham Satcom, Paradigm Comm and Skyware Global have demonstrated leadership in the VSAT terminal marketplace, and we are delighted that they are now formally part of our programme to deliver on the Global Xpress promise. Their experience and expertise in their key market segments will ensure that customers will quickly benefit from the introduction of new generation, high data rate services.”