Chief provider of global mobile satellite communications, Inmarsat, officially launched their Fleet Xpress broadband solution this week, saying that its arrival marks the start of new era that will see ‘smart’ ship operations become a reality.
Fleet Xpress is based on Inmarsat’s new Global Xpress (GX) satellite constellation, which was launched into orbit during 2015.
It combines the high data speeds of Ka-band with the ultra-reliable FleetBroadband L-band service for unlimited backup. As a fully integrated service, it switches automatically between Ka-band and L-band, ensuring an ‘always on’ guaranteed connection with a committed information rate.
Uniquely, Fleet Xpress can also empower third party application providers to enhance their existing services to maritime customers, and to develop a host of innovative new applications. This will include applications that drive ship efficiency, real-time ship performance monitoring and more. The Inmarsat Service Enablement Platform (ISEP) allows Inmarsat’s Certified Application Partners to develop and publish innovative, content-rich applications that integrate with the Fleet Xpress service.
“Through Fleet Xpress, ship owners and operators can experience unparalleled levels of performance and simplicity. It will provide the guaranteed high-speed connectivity that is essential to support the safest and most efficient vessel operations, anywhere in the world”, said Ronald Spithout, Inmarsat Maritime President.
Eric Verheylewegen, Vice President and General Manager, Network Innovations commented: “Fleet Xpress is a game changer for the global maritime community. It is a unique offering as it delivers superior service even in areas that are not covered by traditional VSAT and provides the only truly unlimited L-band backup.”
To take advantage of the new service, ships will require a 1m or 60cm Global Xpress antenna and terminal, and a FleetBroadband terminal (either FleetBroadband 500 or FleetBroadband 250). This equipment is pre-commissioned on the network to provide quick and easy plug and play deployment, say Inmarsat. The company believes that the 60cm antenna will be very popular and the fact that Fleet Xpress voice services are not using contracted bandwidth makes Fleet Xpress very good value as ship operators can pick their package based solely on their data needs.
The Fleet Xpress hardware includes a Network Service Device (NSD) to manage bandwidth and traffic flow through Inmarsat-tested antennae and type-approved user terminals, offered by hardware partners Intellian, JRC and Cobham SATCOM.
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