NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Inmarsat, a London-based satellite-services provider, got approval from the Federal Communications Commission on Friday to start rolling out a new broadband service in the USA.
The service, which the company has dubbed "BGAN" for "broadband global area network," gives users data speeds up to half a megabit. Users can send video or email or make calls through the system, which uses a new geostationary satellite.
The cost of the service should be equivalent or less than competing satellite communications systems from Iridium Satellite and GlobalStar Telecommunications, Chief Operating Officer Michael Butler said in an interview.
Inmarsat invested $1.5 billion to get BGAN off the ground. The service was launched over Europe earlier this year. A third satellite is planned over Asia.
The service is expected to appeal most to emergency workers. BGAN "will offer capabilities to users that are not available today, and will be especially useful to First Responders as they plan for the upcoming America Hurricane season," Butler said in a statement.
Satellite communications systems got a boost in interest over the last year after Hurricane Katrina knocked out cell-phone towers and telephone poles, limiting communications in hurricane-stricken areas for days or months.
-By Ellen Sheng, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5863; ellen.sheng@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires"
Posted to the site on 15th May 2006
Posted to: www.cellular-news.com/story/17382.php