Inmarsat : Key services successfully transitioned to Alphasat

25 March 2015:Inmarsat has successfully completed the transition of key voice and broadband data services for the EMEA region from Inmarsat-4 F2 (I-4 F2) to Alphasat, Europe's largest and most sophisticated telecommunications satellite.

The services were transitioned overnight during a regular maintenance window for the EMEA region and included FleetBroadband (maritime), SwiftBroadband (aviation), BGAN (land-based communications), and Classic Aero.

Inmarsat's GSPS services for EMEA were successfully transitioned to Alphasat in November 2013.

Alphasat was built through a public-private partnership (PPP) between the European Space Agency (ESA) and Inmarsat, and remains one of the largest PPP telecom projects in Europe.

Alphasat and I-4 F2 will continue to jointly provide services over the EMEA region until the transition of the last two services - L-TAC and IsatData Pro - scheduled to be completed by the end of Q2 2015.

Following this, I-4 F2 will be flown to a new orbital position to create a fourth L-band region, serving the Middle East and Asia (MEAS).

The new region is on course to begin commercial services by the end of the year and will support BGAN, FleetBroadband, SwiftBroadband and GSPS services.

"Transitioning our EMEA L-band services to Alphasat enhances Inmarsat's capabilities in this key region: adding additional capacity and providing us with a platform for new and enhanced services for our maritime, aviation and land customers," said Ruy Pinto, Group Chief Operations Officer (COO) at Inmarsat.

"Of equal importance, Alphasat allows us to create a fourth satellite region, addressing the growing demand for our highly reliable and secure voice and data connectivity in a region where we are seeing the greatest growth in demand for Inmarsat's services."