Global Xpress Service News

Maritime software specialist GTMaritime has appointed maritime satellite veteran Mike McNally as Sales and Marketing Director, as it sets about expanding into new territories.McNally has more than 25 years’ experience working in the industry both at sea and in senior maritime communications management positions. His appointment reflects GTMaritime’s desire to further develop partnerships with its existing customers and resellers, while extending its reach and presence in new territories.As McNally takes up his new role overseeing GTMaritime’s sales and marketing strategy and teams…

Inmarsat, the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications services and Intellian, a global leader in satellite communication antenna systems, have announced a significant deal with EUKOR Car Carriers. The deal will enable EUKOR, one of the world’s largest shipping companies specialising in the transportation of cars and other rolling cargo, to take advantage of the latest technology offered by Intellian and Inmarsat’s new high-speed broadband Global Xpress (GX) network. EUKOR has selected Intellian’s latest GX100 terminals to equip its 27 vessels with regional connectivity powered by GX in the Indian Ocean Region. Once all three GX satellites are live and operational EUKOR will be able to harness the Fleet Xpress service on a global basis.

RigNet, Inc., a global provider of remote managed offshore communications solutions, telecoms systems integration services and collaborative applications to the oil and gas industry, today announced that it has signed an agreement with Inmarsat to offer Fleet Xpress, the maritime version of its Global Xpress service, to the oil and gas maritime sector. The agreement will enable RigNet to extend high-speed communications to offshore service and supply vessels within the oil and gas industry across the globe. “RigNet differentiates itself in the oil and gas industry by providing fit-for-purpose technologies to help our energy customers operate remotely in a more productive, efficient and safe manner,” said Mark Slaughter, RigNet’s CEO and President.

Inmarsat has appointed SpeedCast International Limited (SpeedCast), a leading global network and satellite communications service provider, as a Distribution Partner (DP) for its flagship maritime service, FleetBroadband, and Fleet One, its new voice and broadband data service for leisure yachts and near-shore fishing boats. As part of the agreement signed today, SpeedCast has also been appointed as a Value Added Reseller (VAR) for Fleet Xpress, Inmarsat’s high-speed broadband maritime service, delivered over the new Global Xpress (GX) constellation. “SpeedCast is a valuable addition to our partner channel and strengthens Inmarsat’s capabilities across Asia Pacific during a period of unprecedented investment and service development in our maritime business…

The new Intellian v100GX 3-Axis Ku-Band VSAT communications antenna will be unveiled at Norshipping 2013. The technically advanced antenna is fully prepared for the upcoming Global Xpress (GX) Ka-band broadband service from Inmarsat, and can be upgraded to the service with minimal technical intervention. The 1m v100GX incorporates a superb dual-band, carbon fiber reflector and tuned radome for consistent service, whether operating on the existing Ku- band, or converting to Ka- band when available next year.

Intellian showed  itsnew v110GX 3-Axis Ku-band VSAT communications antenna at SMM 2012. Prepared for the upcoming Global Express (GX) Ka-band broadband service from Inmarsat, the 1m Intellian v110GX incorporates a dual-band, carbon fibre reflector and tuned radome for consistent service, whether operating on either Ku- or Ka- band. The high-gain precision carbon fiber reflector is designed to provide optimum performance on either Ku- or Ka- band. When converting the system the antenna reflector does not need to be changed and the RF section is mounted on a single modular chassis enabling quick conversion to Ka-Band operation without any system re-balancing. The new radome has been developed to ensure efficient operation on both bands and minimise signal loss of the radome itself.

Inmarsat signs contracts with initial land satellite terminal manufacturing partners for its forthcoming Global Xpress® service. Cobham Satcom, Paradigm Comm and Skyware Global will manufacture 0.6 to 2.4 metre aperture terminals to deliver up to 50Mbps downlink speeds. The range will cover fixed, transportable, 'fly-away' and 'manpack' terminal types. The terminals have been specifically designed for operation in the Ka-band and will utilise a new core module developed by VT iDirect to provide state-of-the-art capabilities. Scheduled for service introduction in 2014, Global Xpress will offer unprecedented high data rate (HDR) bandwidth and global coverage.

Rupert Pearce, Inmarsat's Chief Executive Officer, said: "The results for the first quarter are in line with our expectations and give us confidence in our outlook. Strong subscriber growth of over 10% in the first quarter continues to underpin our expectations for improved results in 2012. Growth in our maritime data revenue resulted primarily from the impact of pricing initiatives, in particular as a result of the elimination of volume discounts previously available for older services where we are encouraging customer migration to our FleetBroadband service. In addition, we added 2,010 FleetBroadband terminals during the quarter, showing that take up of this service remains strong.

Intellian introduce their v110GX Ku-Band maritime communications antenna, which is upgradable to Inmarsat Global Xpress Ka-Band service (Global Xpress will allow Inmarsat partners to offer a full range of broadband data services to customers). The equipment includes a fully optimized Ku-/Ka-band antenna reflector and radome, enhanced to meet  RF performance and capability for the future. Intellian’s v110GX is a 1 meter (41”), 3-Axis Ku-band maritime VSAT antenna communication…