In late April 2008 Inmarsat intends to launch the 3rd of their fourth generation (I4) satellites extending coverage for Stratos’ mobile satellite broadband services across the Pacific region. Once this 3rd satellite is in place, Stratos will offer full global coverage for mobile broadband services including the BGAN land-portable service, as well as the FleetBroadband maritime and SwiftBroadband aeronautical versions.

Broadband Global Area Network–BGAN –is the first mobile communications service to deliver simultaneous voice and broadband data globally through a single portable device. BGAN is also the first service to offer guaranteed data rates on demand. With BGAN from Stratos, you can set up a mobile office in minutes, anywhere your business takes you. High performance, full portability, quick and easy setup, and competitive pricing make BGAN an ideal solution for routine mobile business needs as well as for remote locations.

Using a lightweight satellite terminal about the size of a laptop PC, BGAN enables you to access e-mail, corporate networks and the Internet; transfer files; send live video; make telephone calls; and send SMS or faxes from most locations worldwide, including those not serviced by traditional technologies or where terrestrial networks are temporarily unavailable.

BGAN operates on the Inmarsat I-4 satellites, the most advanced communications satellites ever launched. These three satellites have 16 times the power and capacity of the Inmarsat I-3 constellation, providing significantly enhanced performance and capability.

Since Inmarsat’s official introduction of its BGAN service in December 2005, the service has been available to Pacific Island customers, but only for use outside of this region. BGAN from Stratos has been widely adopted by the military and NGOs a, media organisations and first responders that need dependable, secure voice and broadband access in locations with unreliable or non-existent telecommunications infrastructure.

Stratos now provides BGAN services to customers in over 185 countries, which cover 95 percent of the BGAN footprint. These customers fully utilise The Stratos Advantage, a suite of value-added services that help make BGAN usage more productive and affordable. These services, including Stratos Dashboard(tm) and Stratos Trench(tm), provide users with cost control, firewall management, full traffic information, pre-paid facilities, high security options, easy VPN access, messaging services and full IP range.

Stratos has activated more than 4,500 BGAN terminals to date and has enabled many users to experience BGAN’s exceptional performance and capabilities in the world’s most remote locations. Following the launch of Inmarsat’s third I4 satellite, Stratos will bring BGAN to the Pacific Region and is looking forward to establishing relationships with reputable local partners. In this region, it is Stratos’ intent to establish in-region partnerships to meet demand for BGAN, FleetBroadband and SwiftBroadband services.

Stratos will have a stand in the PTC pavillion and encourages both potential users and distributors of the service to stop by for more information. The Pacific Islands will benefit greatly from the next generation of Mobile Satellite Services that Stratos and Inmarsat will deliver to this region.