Category: Blog

The Satellite Network operator/manager Lightsquared has notified Inmarsat that it now wishes to move forward with the next stage of the agreement between the two organizations.

Both Lightsquared and Inmarsat signed an agreement in December of 2007 whereby Inmarsat will support a spectrum plan that increases the total capacity available through the Lightsquared ATC network.

For their part, Lightsquared will begin paying out Inmarsat $115 million every year increasing at 3% per year with a minimum commitment of five years. Phase 1 of the agreement was designed to enable the rebranding and efficient re-use of radio spectrum covering all of North America through a transition period lasting a year and a half.

Overall, this agreement plays two crucial roles. It will aid Lightsquared in the launching of the 4G ancillary terrestrial component (ATC) network and at the same time protecting the continued growth of Inmarsat’s mobile satellite services across the world.

“Inmarsat has already initiated programs to ensure our customers are protected from interference risks and has conducted analysis of the issues over an extended period,” said Perry Melton, Inmarsat’s chief operating officer. “Inmarsat is confident the effects on customers will be minimal, and where needed, will be dealt with responsibly.”

In a letter to distribution partners, Chris D’Aguiar, vice-president of sales and marketing, highlighted the measures already being taken to minimize the impact on users. They include:

* The Inmarsat B to FleetBroadband migration incentive

* Safety services over SwiftBroadband program

* Ongoing efforts encouraging users to upgrade to more spectrum-efficient broadband services.

We’ve recently had several inquiries from our customers regarding the recent major “solar storm” and whether we should expect any impact on the Iridium constellation. Solar storms generate increased radiation which can cause issue with satellites and even some terrestrial electrical systems.

First of all, solar storms are not all that unusual as we’ve experienced many of them during the 14 years the satellite constellation has been deployed. The Iridium constellation is a Low- Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellite system rather than the more common fixed High Earth Orbit or Geosynchronous satellite constellations. By their very nature, LEO constellations are much less susceptible to solar flare ups than the geosynchronous variety of constellation. Also, due to the robust design of the iridium constellation, our system default detection and mitigation processes and the altitude at which our birds fly, we have minimal concern over these kinds of phenomena.

What many people don’t realize, although it was announced last August in conjunction with the U.S. National Science Foundation, Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Lab and Boeing, is that the Iridium constellation is actually part of the world’s first real-time solar detection system. As part of “AMPERE” (the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment), Iridium satellites actually contain sensors that enable 24-hour tracking of Earth’s response to supersonic sun plasma blasts. These sensors provide data tracking which allow for more dynamic and realistic predictions of space weather effects. Iridium is proud to be a part of this advanced solution– an excellent example of the important, unique, global data collection capability that we enable today and plan to continue to deliver through Iridium NEXT.

All Iridium satellites are designed with a high degree of on-board subsystem resiliency, an on-board fault detection system, and isolation and recovery capabilities. Our constellation is monitored 24/7 by a talented and experienced operations team. Iridium satellites were originally launched with far more fuel than required for normal operation, so fuel is not a concern. All satellite components are “hardened” against radiation exposure, and we are fortunate that our low orbit (780 km) experiences relatively low degrees of radiation. Finally, we benefit from a new operational regime with the U.S. Air Force, which gives us increased ability to monitor significant space debris and decreases our chances of having another collision in space.

Confidence in the Iridium constellation’s health remains high. We are proud of the reliable, critical communications lifelines that we provide on Earth…and in space….today as well as those we will realize in the next generation of Iridium satellites. Iridium appreciates your ongoing support of our team, our services and, finally, our amazing network.

Satellite Video Streaming via BGAN

BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) by Inmarsat played a big role in the top innovation award won by CNN for the coverage of the conflict in Lebanon in 2006

CNN walked away with both the Innovation Award for Content and Creation and Judges Award held in Amsterdam by the International Broadcasting Convention.

Watch the video below which shows how CNN utilized BGAN for mobile satellite video streaming

Having the the high speed marine satellite system, Fleetbroadband 150 on board, means the captain and crew can stay in contact with family and friends, maybe even engage in a little business while at sea using the same innovative technolgy that is being utilized on superyachts.

The FB 150 is geared towards the leisure vessels with lower data requirements like individual user email and web browsing access. Combining high quality simultaneous voice and high speed data up to 150kbps, this solution makes perfect sense while at sea away from terrestrial connectivity.

Watch this video to see how one sport fisherman has benefited in a big way from having FleetBroadband onboard.

Prepare to experience the most exciting world sporting race on the water, the Volvo Ocean Race. This thrilling competition will be streaming to every TV and computer screen by way of advanced World Telecomunications Solutions from Inmarsat.

Inmarsat is playing a key role in providing satellite communications for this 2011 sailing event with an audience of more than 1.8 billion across every major media outlet around the world.

The high speed marine satellite system, Fleetbroadband once again will be providing live video news feeds every step of the way as Volvo Ocean Race fans watch this thrilling sailing adventure from the comforts of their living rooms in HD format.

With such up-close and amazing coverage in prospect, this 12 th edition of the world’s premier ocean race looks poised to capture the imagination of millions of new fans around the globe.

And for the organizers of this race along with the crews, having the fleetbroadband on board ensures safety, comfort and the capability to communicate with the outside world with an “always on” satellite link.

Please watch this video for Fleetbroadband in action

International Satellite Services, Inc. (ISS) is based in Southwest Florida. Since our inception in 1995 ISS has been providing alternative, private and independent world telecommunications solutions for business and residential use throughout the globe. We represent all of the major L Band Satellite Constellations including Iridium, Inmarsat, Thuraya, and Lightsquared (MSAT).

As competition continues to drive down the cost of satellite communications equipment and service, technological advancements throughout the industry have greatly improved the features and quality of service available. Many people do not realize that a complete satellite communications system, providing virtually the same features that conventional telephone service offers, can now be installed in a home or office for a fraction of what the same system cost just a few years ago. Portable configurations are available for considerably less. Total air time charges for calls worldwide average far less than $1.00 per minute, again, just a fraction of what they were just a few years ago. We have even lower rates available for high volume customers.

Satellite communication equipment provides worldwide access and operates independently from any local telephone system as they transmit directly from your terminal to the satellite. ISS service is simple. You dial direct and your callers dial direct. Because it is digital you have complete privacy and excellent quality of transmission.

This is not a “cellular phone”, “radio phone” or a “push to talk” system. It is a full duplex system that operates like an ordinary telephone. All of our products are “data capable” so they can be used for e-mail, accessing the Internet, transmitting scanned data, faxing, etc. They can even work through your PBX, providing access to the satellite telephone from any conventional telephone handset in your office. Our Satellite Dispatch Radio service allows multiple satellite telephone users to communicate with each other throughout the Northern hemisphere via personalized “talk groups”. One reasonable monthly flat fee gives you unlimited airtime. We have units designed for marine, land mobile and fixed site installation(live links). We even offer a portable telephone small enough to hang on your belt. The largest configuration, the fixed site unit, including the antenna is still compact enough to fit in a suitcase.

ISS is uniquely positioned in the industry to offer competitive prices on fully digital satellite communications equipment and service. It is simply the most affordable satellite service available.

The BGAN Service is the only mobile satellite solution to offer simultaneous broadband data and voice through a single transportable terminal that offers connectivity from virtually anywhere on the planet. The BGAN service is also the first functionality to offer guaranteed data rates on demand for live video streaming and videoconferencing. BGAN terminal accessories allow for use indoors and outdoors.

Models may vary in terms of degree of ruggedization, however most are robust enough to withstand challenging environments and extremes of temperature that exist in Mining…as an example. There are also several mobile highly ruggedized vehicular BGAN terminals which are equipped with an omni-directional muti-axis antenna, allowing for signal consistency while tracking in a vehicle.

Let’s use the Mining Industry again in our example of what the BGAN Service can offer. There is virtually an unlimited opportunity for implementation of the Inmarsat BGAN technology in the mining industry. Never before has mobile satellite services functionality been able to offer such a potent combination of instant, remote simultaneous voice and high-speed data connectivity using such a compact, cost effective, ruggedized terminal AND offering it in a “plug and play” configuration.

BGAN allows you to send test data, monitor equipment performance, transmit images and video immediately from remote location sites to base operations. Off site expert analysis of the real time data will result in increased productivity by minimizing downtime through anticipating problems and resolving them before they materialize in the form of equipment breakdowns. All phases of the mining cycle will benefit from more efficient operations and reduced costs by using BGAN, from mineral exploration to site establishment, site construction, security, operation and even closure phases of a mine.

CLA SatCom, LTD. (Caribbean Latin America) was founded in early 1995 for the primary purpose of promoting the business of mobile satellite communications throughout the Caribbean and Central America. At that time, the principals of the company were maintaining an effective means of communicating with family and business interests throughout North America and the rest of the world.

The founders immediately discovered a strong market in this region of the world due to a variety of reasons. In many rural and remote areas there is no alternative to satellite communications. Land line telephones did not exist and plans for them being installed were not in the near future. Even in some metropolitan areas one could wait a year or more just for an available telephone line. In other areas, even where there was available telephone service, it was unreliable and/or very expensive, particulary calling internationally.

There was no way to anticipate the tremendous reception that was received in virtually every country from Mexico to Panama relative to this new mobile satellite communications technology. Customers begot more customers and soon the founders were unable to manage the business from the remote regions of Honduras. An available infrastructure which would support this ever increasing volume of business, was sorely needed. Advertising efforts were expanding to include South America and the Eastern Carribean, as well as the remote areas of Canada and Alaska. Coordinating the increased volume of customer inquiries from these regions became more difficult from a third world environment. The internet based portion of the business began growing exponentially. Express mail services became essential. Shipping of products and coordination of customs and duties issues grew more and more complex. Somewhat reluctantly, but eagerly anticipating expanding the business, CLA SatCom moved it’s base of operations from Roatan, Honduras to Southwest Florida in June 1997.

Already supporting a strong customer base throughout Central America, the Caribbean and the remote reaches of Canada and Alaska, CLA SatCom began looking for additional satellite communications products which would allow expanding into markets abroad feasbile. International Satellite Services, Inc (ISS) was created for the express purpose of broadening name recognition into these overseas markets as well as providing the vehicle to expand the satellite telephone rental operations in place at the time.

In the Spring of 1998, with the addition of the NERA line of Inmarsat compatible products, ISS gained the ability to do business anywhere in the world. An Iridium affiliation would soon follow as this was the next satellite constellation to enter the market with the introduction of the Iridium Motorola 9500 Handheld Satellite Phone.

ISS now represents all the major L Band Satellite Constellations (Inmarsat, MSAT Satellite, Thuraya, and Iridium) The business of choosing a mobile satellite communications device is no longer a question of spending many thousands of dollars to purchase the one terminal available to everyone. Rather it has become a far more affordable issue economically, albeit considerably more complex in terms of the myriad of product configurations, air time rate plans, satellite constellations and geographic limitations which now must figure into any buying decision.

How do you spell happiness? “Satellite Phone”

Still wearing a radiation detection badge on his lapel, a television correspondent recently had some very important news to convey to a very worried woman in the United States. “This is Bill Weir with ABC News”, he said. “I’m actually in northern Japan right now, and I just saw your sister Elsa and she’s O.K., and she wanted you to know that, and that she loves you.”

The camera panned to NBC News correspondent, Ann Curry, anxiously showing quake survivors a picture of a missing American teacher, Canon Purdy. Later, Ms. Curry hit gold. “I found your sister,” she announced over a satellite phone in front of the rescue center where the teacher had sought refuge. “Here she is.” As Ms Curry handed the satellite phone to Ms. Purdy, the television went to split screen, showing the teacher crying into the sat phone on one half and her equally weepy and overjoyed relatives who were being recorded by a camera crew in San Francisco on the other half.

Car accidents… childbirths… grass fires… heart attacks… sports injuries—Miami-Dade Fire Rescue deals with hundreds of such events everyday while serving some 2.1 million people spread over almost 2000 square miles in Florida.

And if that activity isn’t enough to keep the department busy, when hurricanes, earth quakes, floods, volcano eruptions, or air crashes occur around the world, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue’s Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team may be called into action.

One of only two U.S. Fire-Rescue organizations that support the government’s international emergency disaster relief efforts, the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue USAR team includes rescue specialists, structural engineers, K-9 unit handlers, hazardous material experts, medical personnel, and logistics staff. “All these people have to be supported,” says Firefighter Justin Wasilkowski of the Miami-Dade Fire Rescue Tactical Communications Group (T-Comm).

“Without communications, we don’t go anywhere.” For this reason, T-Comm uses satellite dispatch radio and voice service from Lightsquared (formerly Mobile Satellite Ventures). When disaster strikes, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue can rely on its Lightsquared service to support search and rescue efforts. “It would be virtually impossible to do what we do without satellite phones,” says Firefighter Wasilkowski. “We need contact with the outside world, and often we can’t depend on cellular coverage.”

Where cell phones fail, Satellite Communications shines

By their nature, disasters often cripple communications systems, leaving rescuers scrambling to manage relief efforts. Such was the case in October 1995 when hurricane Opal and its 155-mile-per-hour peak winds pounded the Florida panhandle. Called in to deal with the storm’s aftermath, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue personnel found that the hurricane had toppled phone lines and knocked out cellular systems, making conventional communication difficult, if not impossible. “Our guys were able to keep in touch by the G2 Mobile Satellite Radio all the way to the disaster area,” says Firefighter Wasilkowski,” and provide updates about the situation and coordinate relief efforts when they got there.

” If a disaster doesn’t wipe out the telephones and cellular networks, rescue teams face yet another communications obstacle: cell-phone overload. This situation ocurred when a Fine Air DC-8 cargo plane crashed at the Miami International airport—perhaps one of the most cellular-intensive locations in the state. Within minutes of the crash, all cell phone lines in the area were jammed.

“The only reliable communication was our dispatch satellite radio and voice service,” says Firefighter Wasilkowski. “We set up the briefcase phones on the hood of one of our vehicles and had people from various agencies lining up to call.” Sometimes disasters occur in areas with little or no cell phone coverage, another situation when the dispatch satellite radios prove their worth. When a ValuJet crashed in the Florida Everglades, Miami-Dade Fire Rescue relied on MSV dispatch radio and voice service again. “There is very little cellular coverage in the Everglades,” says Firefighter Wasilkowski. “But by using the Lightsquared service we were able to communicate instantly from the crash site.”

Reliability in challenging environments

Covering an expansive area is one thing; covering it dependably is another—and Lightsquared has never let Miami-Dade Fire Rescue down. “The reliability has been very good,” says Firefighter Wasilkowski. “We’ve never had a problem getting a phone line. And the connections are robust. I’ve driven under long overpasses without losing contact, which says a lot because other satellite services won’t do that.”

In addition, T-Comm uses the Lightsquared service to send and receive email and files from laptop computers. “The phone’s great,” says Firefighter Wasilkowski, ‘but when somebody wants a hard copy, it’s easy to transmit a page by satellite.”

Seeking the benefit of his experience, emergency response organizations and other USAR teams throughout the U.S. often invite Firefighter Wasilkowski to give lectures to their departments. Many times people ask him about what type of communications system to get.

“I tell them that cell phones are going to be dead five minutes after the disaster happens,” he says. “Cell phones give you a false sense of security. Rescue teams need another way to do it. We’ve used satellite dispatch radio and voice service from its beginning, and we’ve been happy with it. I strongly recommend Mobile Satellite Communications as a solution for long-term and long-range communications.”