Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) announces that Iridium Certus 700's service is now commercially available and provides the fastest L-band speeds in the industry.

Previously, the Iridium Certus provided L-band upload and download speeds of up to 352 kbps. With the upgrade to Iridium Certus 700, provided at no additional cost to Iridium Certus 350 subscribers, top download speeds have now doubled — to up to 704 kbps. This is more than 270 kbps faster than the top download speed of the closest competitive L-band solution, for the same price per kilobit as Iridium Certus 350. Iridium Certus has enjoyed acceptance from the maritime and land-m obile/connected vehicle markets. 

IridiumCertus is the only broadband service that provides global, weather-resilient coverage for on-the-move internet and voice access that is delivered through small form factor, affordable antennas and terminals currently available from Cobham and Thales. Iridium Certus is delivered through the Cobham SAILOR 4300 and VesseLINK by Thales satellite terminals, and serves as either a primary ship communications solutions or as a VSAT companion service. 

Regardless of a vessel’s location at sea, Iridium Certus 700 delivers high-speed L-band connectivity, enhancing ship business applications, IoT services and connected ship communications.  Crew members on board vessels equipped with Iridium Certus terminals now have faster web access and reliable use of smartphone applications such as WhatsApp or WeChat, even in poor weather.  

For the vehicular and land-mobile market, MissionLINK by Thales has been providing railways, first responders, governments and NGOs with comms-on-the-move connectivity regardless of their location.  While enabling capabilities like positive train control and mobile-office functionality, including internet, email and voice calls, the MissionLINK terminal can also switch from satellite to cellular connectivity as needed to help manage costs. In addition, the faster speeds available can enhance applications such as telemedicine for remote aid workers, command and control or situational awareness updates for militaries, and remote database access or video monitoring for first responders and police. Governments and enterprises have enhanced speeds for business and operational continuity efforts, that ensures they maintain communications when terrestrial connectivity is unavailable.

Bryan Hartin, executive vice president, Iridium said that there is nothing on the market today that matches the quality, reliability, speed and global coverage Iridium Certus delivers, and the Iridium Certus 700 upgrade clearly demonstrates this. Iridium Certus is now the standard when it comes to providing primary maritime or VSAT companion service, and a reliable weather-resilient broadband solution for mobile applications supporting railways, first responders, and any industry regularly working beyond the reach of terrestrial coverage.

With Iridium Certus 700, no new hardware is required for existing users, and the upgrade process is simple. Current subscribers can take advantage of a simple firmware update rolled out through their service provider, while all new terminals will already have Iridium Certus 700 activated.  

Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium added that Iridium Certus continues to gain momentum, and they continue to deliver on their promises by providing the fastest L-band speeds in the industry. As they see this increasing adoption, they also look ahead to their coming Iridium Certus midband class of devices currently in development, which opens the door to enhanced capabilities for autonomous systems, remote sensors and a new generation of satellite-powered personal communicators.

Iridium Certus is the company’s new technology platform that offers the flexibility to scale device speeds, sizes and power requirements both up and down based on the needs of the end-user.  Made possible by the upgraded Iridium satellite constellation, the Iridium Certus service goes beyond serving solely as a connectivity solution.  It provides a platform for the company's partners to develop specialized broadband, midband and narrowband applications made possible by Iridium's crosslinked L-band network.

https://www.iridium.com/services/iridium-certus/