Telenor To Launch New Global Maritime Communications Service

Telenor Fleet Service, which offers Advanced Safety & High-Speed Communications via Inmarsat Satellite Services, has announced that the Fleet service is now available to customers on a global basis. Telenor's Fleet service offers the maritime community the most advanced mobile satellite communications technology available for high-speed commercial communications and enhanced safety at sea.

Available to all ocean regions through Telenor's Eik Land Earth Station in Norway and its Santa Paula, Calif. facility in the U.S., Telenor's Fleet service via Inmarsat delivers a wide range of commercial communications needs for voice, fax and data services at speeds of up to 64 kbps, including the rapid mobile Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and the new, resource-efficient Mobile Packet Data Service.

Known as "Fleet F77", the service is geared toward ocean-going vessels such as tankers, container ships, fishing vessels, and large yachts, using equipment smaller than the current Inmarsat-B antenna. Fleet's ISDN service provides broadcast quality audio and video enabling video conferencing, e-commerce, high volume data transfer, distance learning, and remote performance monitoring.

The new service also offers the flexibility of Mobile Packet Data Service, providing maritime customers the benefit of paying only for data they transmit and receive instead of paying for the time they are connected to the satellite.