Inmarsat and Cisco Seal Long-Term Partnership on Satellite Services

Inmarsat and Cisco have signed a long-term deal that allows Inmarsat to supply advanced satellite services by way of Global Xpress (GX), Inmarsat’s state-of-the-art applications delivery platform for satellite services.

Cisco will develop a router that is designed for use by satellite network end-users. The said Cisco router will not only utilize Inmarsat’s GX capabilities but also its preexisting Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN). Cisco’s modern satellite application platform is definitely advantageous to Inmarsat in the long run. Using multiple global mobile satellites in orbit, the satellite application platform can be used on land, sea, and air.

Before transferring the satellite network to Inmarsat, Cisco will first build, operate, and fully manage it by using key software stacks of Service Delivery Platform and Prime, a Cisco infrastructure, to deliver advanced capabilities such as high-speed internet access, video, voice, and cloud application services.

Inmarsat has eyed M2M communications as a solution to the increasing global demand for uninterrupted and seamless data connectivity that only a satellite network can provide.

Joel Schroeder, director of Inmarsat’s M2M program, explained that M2M services were normally used by a relatively small number of industries. And those industries were ones that had assets beyond the reach of terrestrial networks. Schroeder said that he was now noticing a bigger demand for satellite services from several companies associated with finance, energy, and maritime industries. He added that even government entities had finally recognized the advantage and value of satellite networks to connect remote devices.

Inmarsat and its partners such as Cisco will use the integrated GX/BGAN platform to quickly develop and remotely deploy ground-breaking applications. In this new alliance, Inmarsat will serve as a Global Partner for Cisco and their combined forces will spread service capabilities to Inmarsat’s global base of value-added resellers.

Rob Lloyd, president of Cisco’s Development and Sales, remarked that Cisco was excited by the new collaboration with Inmarsat. He said that the alliance supplements Cisco’s vision of communications devices that can be used anytime and anywhere. “Imagine watching on demand TV in an aircraft, using TelePresence on an oil rig in the middle of the ocean, or accessing cost-effective HD TV broadcasting from any location,” Lloyd said.

Inmarsat currently offers the broadest range of M2M satellite portfolio of any satellite operator that deals with L-band. BGAN M2M, Inmarsat’s flagship satellite service, was launched in February, 2012. It offers real-time IP data speeds that peak at half a megabit per second. (KOM) Link. Link