Introducing BGAN - Inmarsat's Broadband Global Area Network

At GITEX this year, representatives from Inmarsat - the Total Communications Network™ -- will be introducing the characteristics that make BGAN the world's first mobile communications service to provide both voice and broadband data connectivity simultaneously through a single, truly portable device on a global basis.

Samer Halawi, Regional Director, Middle East, Africa & Central Asia, Inmarsat said"Inmarsat launched Regional BGAN in 2002 to cover mainly the Middle East. Since then, the service has been highly successful and that contributed significantly to our commitment to raise the bar by now introducing BGAN," Samer Halawi, Regional Director, Middle East, Africa & Central Asia, Inmarsat explained. "BGAN, which will be launched in mid November and will provide voice and data at up to half a megabit per second, will first cover the Middle East before it is extended to the Americas by mid 2006."

Delivered via the Inmarsat-4 satellites - the world's largest and most sophisticated commercial communications satellites - BGAN will provide much faster data speeds and affordable, mobile broadband services including voice (with all standard GSM features), IP, IP streaming, and ISDN at speeds up to half a megabit per second in a highly portable, easy to use form. With BGAN services, data applications can be accessed at speeds of up to 492kbps while making a phone call, whether in a major city, airport, desert, or on an oil rig. BGAN will be accessible via a range of small, lightweight satellite terminals, which provide performance options to suit different operational needs. There are five different compact terminals, varying in characteristics and features, which are currently being manufactured and tested by NERA, Add Value, Thrane & Thrane and HNS (Hughes Network Systems). BGAN will extend terrestrial networks and open up a broadband environment for many industry sectors.

Inmarsat R-BGAN goes further

Regional BGAN was recently rebranded as R-BGAN to better reflect its position within the broader BGAN family of services, along with a new range of enhancements announced to the service. R-BGAN is the pioneering and award-winning1 data service, launched by Inmarsat in 2002, which offers connectivity at up to 144kbps across a secure shared channel.

Initially branded as Regional BGAN, access to the service was confined to a coverage area of about 99 countries. Following the successful migration of the service to the new Inmarsat-4 (I-4) satellite, R-BGAN can now be used in a significantly larger coverage area. The footprint of R-BGAN now covers Europe, the whole of Africa, the Middle East, most of Asia Pacific and Western Australia, adding nearly 50 countries to the coverage area and extending the service to a total of 150 countries.

Since its launch in the Middle East and Africa, R-BGAN has not only successfully penetrated the region, it has benefited regional customers by offering connectivity anywhere at anytime, especially corporate executives and members of the media who tend to frequently be on the move. As of the end of July 2005, the majority of R-BGAN users have now migrated onto the Inmarsat-4 based service.

The migration also coincides with new pricing packages being offered by Inmarsat's R-BGAN distributors2, which can provide significant reductions in data charges by about 40%. R-BGAN is charged by the amount of data sent and received, and users can now access a range of different pricing structures - from monthly megabyte allowances, to more flexible options that spread usage over a preferred period.

R-BGAN becomes today the first operational BGAN terminal, and when the full service is launched near the end of the year, end-users across the globe will witness the birth of "Broadband for a Mobile Planet".

Keeping people connected

Inmarsat has been providing mobile satellite communications solutions for the last 25 years to various industries on land, at sea, and in the air. The company's mission is to continually help businesses and individuals execute their tasks efficiently and effectively. Inmarsat's core business is to provide instant information and instant communication across the globe. For more information on any of Inmarsat's products and services, visit their stand at GITEX - Hall 6, Stand C6-2 and get a first glimpse of the BGAN range of products.