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Inmarsat and France Telecom ready global satellite connectivity
France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications is Inmarsat's exclusive partner in the development of the upcoming broadband mobile satellite Internet solution, the Inmarsat BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network).
Since August 2004, the two players have worked closely together to establish a terrestrial interconnection for the service.
This new generation of mobile satellite solutions, to be launched at the end of this year, will cover the most remote areas devoid of communications infrastructure through ultra-portable terminals providing transfer rates of up to 492 Kbps.
Since August 2004, France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications has made extensive changes to its technical IP platform to allow BGAN users to benefit from specific added value services as soon as it is launched at the end of 2005: traffic supervision and budget management tools, protocol filtering systems and user-friendly, customized user interfaces.
Inmarsat launched its first 4th generation satellite, via which the BGAN service will operate, from Cape Canaveral on 11 March 2005.
At the same time, France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications successfully tested two of BGAN's main functions:
- Surfing the Internet
- Assigning IP addresses and establishing a VPN
These tests have been made possible thanks to the IP connection established between the Inmarsat land earth station in the Netherlands and a test platform via a point of presence (POP) both developed by France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications.
Since January 2005, the technical teams of France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications and Inmarsat have worked closely together to conduct tests on the first BGAN terminals.
These tests have mainly focused on "standard" IP applications (file transfer protocols, surfing on the Internet, chat, etc) as well as on network performance and stability levels.
France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications will market BGAN as of end 2005.
The new generation of mobile satellite communication services will combine broadband data transmission, ISDN and voice telephony services and will provide the following advantages:
- The use of more compact and more mobile terminals than the ones currently used with the Regional BGAN service;
- A scalable range of equipment providing various transfer rates (of up to 492 Kbps);
- Guaranteed QoS levels.
This month, regional BGAN traffic will be migrated onto the first Inmarsat 4 (I4) satellite. France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications will begin marketing the Regional BGAN service on the new I4 satellite in August. In October, the second I4 satellite will be launched and in November, there will be the commercial launch of the BGAN providing transfer rates of up to 492 Kbps.
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