Inmarsat Launches High-Speed Satellite ISDN Service
(Newsbytes; 04/15/99)
LONDON, ENGLAND, 1999 APR 15 (Newsbytes) -- By Sylvia Dennis, Newsbytes.
Wireless data services using a mobile phone are almost invariably limited to
9,600 bits-per-second (bps) or 14,400 bps. Now though, Inmarsat has launched
the industry's first satellite-fed mobile ISDN (integrated services digital
network) service, operating at a 64, 000 bps.
These kinds of full duplex data speeds have never before been available on a
truly mobile basis within one country, Newsbytes notes, let alone on a near-
global basis that Inmarsat is offering from its series of geostationary
satellites.
To access the service, users need a simple Inmarsat terminal that, in its
first edition, which will ship this summer, tips the scales at four kilos (nine
pounds), although this weight looks set to fall in future models, Newsbytes
notes.
The idea behind the service is the allow companies to integrate their mobile
and field workers' PCs or cluster of PCs, into the main corporate network on a
truly wireless basis.
Andrew Ivey, Inmarsat's marketing manager, said that, using the Inmarsat
mobile ISDN service will allow organizations to extend their local area network
(LAN) and wide area network (WAN) capabilities to work with customers,
suppliers and manufacturers, no matter where in the world they are.
"These new capabilities are a natural development of Inmarsat's portfolio of
global, mobile data services, in which we continue to witness a growth in
demand," he said.
According to Ivey, 40 percent of traffic flowing across the Inmarsat network
today is data. "We anticipate that this will grow to 70 percent by 2003," he
said.
Newsbytes understands that the mobile ISDN terminals are being manufactured
by three vendors initially -- Nera of Norway[ nera.no ], Thrane & Thrane of Denmark[ tt.dk ], and STN Atlas Elektronik of Germany[ stn-atlas.de ]. Plans call for volume shipments of the terminals to start later this year.
According to Inmarsat, several of its distributors have already contracted to
supply the mobile ISDN service in their regions around the world. These
include BT in the UK, Comsat in the US, France Telecom, T-Mobil in Germany,
Station 12 in the Netherlands, Stratos in Canada, and Telstra in Australia.
Terminal and usage pricing will be announced this summer.
Inmarsat's Web page is at inmarsat.org .
Reported by Newsbytes News Network, newsbytes.com .
-0-
(19990415/Press Contact: Elizabeth Hess, Inmarsat, +44-171-728-1256/WIRES
TELECOM, BUSINESS/)
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