Inmarsat said last week that 10,000 of its BGAN (broadband global area network) terminals were activated during its first year of availability.
BGAN has been deployed in 175 countries, delivering voice and data connectivity in areas beyond the reach of terrestrial networks.
Broadcasters such as the BBC and CNN frequently use BGAN to transmit live and recorded videophone reports from hotspots around the world. Because of its wide coverage area and the small size of the satellite terminals, BGAN gives news organizations a practical way to transmit reports from remote locations.
BGAN offers simultaneous voice and broadband data communications at speeds of up to 492Kb/s for secure access to telephony, virtual private networks, the Internet and e-mail. In newsgathering applications, it can be coupled with store-and-forward technology to maximize video quality or streaming scenarios for live reports.
For more information, visit www.inmarsat.com.