Inmarsat plans limited broadband service disruption

Neville Smith - Wednesday 4 June 2008

Cunningham: users would have a back-up of some kind in place. Cunningham: users would have a back-up of some kind in place.
MARITIME satellite communications provider Inmarsat will withdraw its broadband voice and data services for a five-week period in November and a three-week period in December if it succeeds in launching its third and final I-4 satellite before the second half of the year. 

Inmarsat plans to launch the last I-4 satellite this year and wants to create a new coverage network of three, high powered satellites positioned over the Americas, Europe and Africa and Asia. 

To do this it must temporarily shut down the first two I-4 units and reposition all three satellites. 

In the west, an area in the north Atlantic, between Greenland and Norway at its widest point, as well as coverage off the coasts of Spain, West Africa and into the southern ocean will be affected for up to five weeks. 

In Asia, a wider band covering the Russian Far East, Japan, Korea, the East China Sea, part of the Malacca Strait, the northern, western and southern Australian coasts and as far east as the Torres Strait in the north and Spencer Gulf in the south will be affected for up to three weeks. 

Services affected include Inmarsat’s latest Fleetbroadband maritime product as well as its land-based and aeronautical variants. Inmarsat’s head of maritime business Piers Cunningham said about 150 of its new broadband terminals would have no service but that most users would have a back-up of some kind in place. Compensation agreements will be made with its distribution partners while the service is unavailable. 

Inmarsat first advised its distribution partners of the possible withdrawl of service last September but Mr Cunningham said the timing of would depend on the launch of the third I-4 and the disruption might take place next year. "We realise this is an inconvenience but we think a few weeks in 20 years is not a bad record," he said, adding the result would be near-global coverage for users. 

The Global Maritime Distress and Safety System and Inmarsat’s other services, Inmarsat-B and Inmarsat Fleet are not affected. Inmarsat has also advised its partners that some of the improved coverage features in the Atlantic Ocean Region West on its existing I-3 satellite would also be withdrawn after the repositioning. 

Since Fleetbroadband is a new product, the impact on the majority of shipping is limited, but users of the new service will be without any connectivity during the repositioning. Inmarsat said its leased capacity services to the US Navy and other governmental bodies would not be affected. 

The repositioning is necessary to move two of its I-4 satellites within sight of its satellite access station in Hawaii, improve the ’look angles’ and connectivity for users and to comply with regulatory requirements for the US market. 

When moving a satellite, interference with other systems must be avoided by turning off the power to the communications payload. When the service is restored and the three satellites in position, Inmarsat said a more focussed satellite footprint over North and South America will bring it increased traffic in future.
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