Beam Communications Pty Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of World Reach Limited, has entered into an agreement with Beijing Marine Communications & Navigation Company (MCN) for the supply of an initial $1M of Beam Inmarsat marine satellite terminals.
This initial order follows the successful trial and now acceptance of the Beam terminals after MCN committed in July 2012 to undertake a trial deploying 200 Beam Oceana 400 and Oceana 800 marine communications terminals on fishing vessels in China, using the Inmarsat FleetPhone Service. At the time, for commercial and competitive reasons, the customer's details could not be disclosed.
The terminals were specifically designed and manufactured by Beam to support the voice, data and tracking communications that take place over the Inmarsat satellite network via its "Fleetphone" maritime service. These terminals were launched to the global market in late 2011 to specifically target high-volume deployments in emerging satellite markets.
"MCN is very pleased to be entering this contract with Beam for an additional commitment USD$1M of Beam Oceana terminals following the successful trial with our customers and channel partners in China. There are many thousands of fishing vessels in China that have a need for high-quality and reliable satellite communications along with land-based applications in smaller villages. MCN will be targeting these key land and maritime customers with an aggressive campaign to promote exclusively the Beam products and we are anticipating this to be very successful, therefore would anticipate placing additional orders with Beam in the coming months," said Mr Yumin Zhao, Director at MCN.
Beam has been actively addressing new market opportunities in Asia including China and Japan for the past two years and therefore extremely pleased to have secured this strategic agreement and commitment from MCN, a leading strategic Inmarsat partner in China, further reinforcing Beam's position as a leading global provider of satellite communication solutions for both the Inmarsat and Iridium satellite networks.
Delivery of the initial order, valued at $1.0M, will commence this quarter and be completed by 31st May 2013. At that time MCN will be required to make further commitments to Beam in order to maintain its exclusive right for distribution of the Beam product in China.