Inmarsat… More Than A Calling + M2M Motivation (SATCOM)

[SatNews] There’s a firmware update scheduled for the end of this month that’ll enable data delivery and a partnership is working on a new M2M data service…

Inmarsat (LSE:ISAT) has now made available a data service on its global handheld satellite phone, IsatPhone Pro. The new circuit-switched data capability, offering an effective data rate of up to 20kbps, will be provided in the next firmware upgrade to the handset on 31st March 2011.

“IsatPhone Pro is ideally suited for use as a data service,” said Drew Brandy, Director of Land Services at Inmarsat. “The handset design means the IsatPhone Pro can be simply placed on its side with the antenna deployed for connection to the satellite while a micro USB cable connects it to a laptop. And the Inmarsat-4 satellites on which the service runs are, of course, designed specifically to handle data communications.

“We are very pleased with the performance of IsatPhone Pro’s data capability. It is proving to be very robust whether using generic or customised applications. In testing we have actually exceeded 20kbps throughput with plain text email on several occasions. It’s ideal for those people wanting to access emails, jpegs, documents or PDFs,” he said. In addition to the data capability, the next firmware upgrade for IsatPhone Pro will feature a number of service enhancements.

In a most similar vein, Inmarsat is also working with partner SkyWave Mobile Communications to develop a new low data rate tracking, monitoring and messaging service that is planned for launch in Q3 2011. IsatData Pro will deliver a significant increase in capability over other services already in the market. Near real-time messages of up to 10,000 bytes to the device, and up to 6,400 bytes from the device, will meet the increasing demand for higher data speeds in machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions. In comparison, other global M2M services currently on the market offer data connectivity at just 270-340 bytes.

The new service will support a wide range of security and location-based services in the fast-growing M2M market: from tracking and in-cab messaging for commercial transportation and government fleets, transmitting telemetry information from oil & gas distribution equipment, to remote management and control of fixed assets. SkyWave and Inmarsat will promote IsatData Pro to government users and the road, rail, merchant shipping, commercial fishing, oil & gas, and utilities sectors. Target geographies include the U.S and Latin America, but also China and Russia, two rapidly expanding markets for M2M services.