Inmarsat prepares for regional BGAN commercial launch

"By the end of October, we move the system to beta testing, and by the end of the year, we will be able to commercial launch," said Samer Halawi, regional director of Inmarsat Ltd. "We are continuously simulating end-user experiences to ensure a fault free end-to-end service quality."

Regional BGAN is a satellite communications service that will offer users access to data transmissions twice as fast as GPRS, making it what could be the fastest service of its type. "When we launch the service later this year the end user will be able to operate a GPRS-compatible network with coverage in a third of the world." The service will be available in up to 99 countries towards the end of this year: across the Middle East, northern half of Africa, Western and Eastern Europe, large parts of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), and the Indian sub-continent.

End users will be able to send and receive data through a secure shared channel of 144kbit/s via a light satellite modem linked with a laptop or computer. "We've ordered the production of prototype satellite modems that we are currently using to test the terminal performance as well as the quality of connection at different locations," explains Gill Govier, Regional BGAN Commercial Launch Director.

For a Regional BGAN terminal to be activated, users need to activate their SIM cards received from an Inmarsat Distribution Partner. SIM cards, according to Inmarsat, along with the satellite terminals, are being produced by Hughes Networks Systems. The network, upon receiving activation, allows the use of the service on the designated terminal. "Users access the Internet and other networks through the familiar Microsoft Windows interface or similar Mac packages, where they can run standard applications, such as e-mail packages and web browsers. Because Regional BGAN is based on Internet Protocol (IP) packet technology, users only pay for data they send and receive, and not for time spent online. This enables users to stay 'always connected'," said Govier. "Requests are sent from the end-user location to the satellite, which in turn, redirects the signal to Inmarsat's Satellite Access Station (SAS) in Fucino, Italy." Inmarsat's SAS will then transmit the request or data via an IP backbone to the destination specified by the IP address, be it an email service, an internet website or an extranet.

Inmarsat also plans to conduct multiple testing on the channel. Govier explained:"Given that for Regional BGAN the maximum bandwidth of each channel is 144kbit/s, this means that although the instantaneous bandwidth stays at a maximum of 144 kbit/s for each user, the average bandwidth available is shared among several connected users if they transmit data at the same time. Our current testing assess the system's ability to allocate capacity where needed and to ensure that users will not experience any effect of sharing a channel with others."

Govier said:"Against the gloomy telecommunications market, the market will find an revolutionary and exciting service from Inmarsat, and on-time."

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