New satellite telephony at 3G speed

After six years development Inmarsat in december last year announced BGAN as a further development of the company's offer of satellite based telephony.

BGAN can be used for common voice calls via satellite, but also for computer connection to obtain broadband speed.

The service can be used in serveral areas were there's no mobile coverage. It can be utilized by relief organizations, media companies broadcasting live from conflict areas, or by companies with their business activity outside inhabited regions.

Of course there are fields of application even for private persons, as for example mountain climbers and others exploring the regions outside urban areas.

The system is now working all over Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. During the second quarter this year the satellites will start to cover even the American continent. Then the coverage will be 85 per cent of the earths area.

The BGAN data speed is up to 492 kbs, about 0,5 mb/s. It's in theory a little faster than 3G is today (before hsdpa will be installed in the 3G networks).

The BGAN terminal can be connected to the computer via Wifi or bluetooth, directly from the notebook or headset.