Inmarsat to move shipping comms from Netherlands to Greece
British satellite communications company Inmarsat said on Wednesday it is nearing an agreement to move some of its ground communications systems from the Netherlands to Greece, resolving a conflict over 5G bandwidth use.
The systems based in Burum, Netherlands, use the 3.5Ghz frequency range for emergency communications with sea traffic. Their location has been in doubt for years as the Dutch government plans to use the 3.5Ghz range for 5G telecommunications.
Inmarsat said it received confirmation from the Greek Ministry of Digital Governance last week that it will be able to continue using a new ground station in Thermopylae, Greece. It expects the agreement to be finalised within several weeks.
“We will continue to operate within the current spectrum from Burum before completing our migration to our new location in Greece,” a spokesperson said.
Inmarsat was acquired this year by Viasat VSAT.O of the United States for $7.3 billion.
The Dutch 5G roll out has lagged behind that of other European countries because of disputes over the use of the 3.5GHz bandwidth, with key auctions now expected no earlier than spring 2024.
Source: Reuters (Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
Inmarsat Signs Greece And Cyprus Representation Agreement With SRH Marine Electronics
Inmarsat, the world leader in global, mobile satellite communications, has signed an agreement with SRH Marine Electronics for SRH to provide formal representation for support to customers in Greece and Cyprus, whose Inmarsat Maritime contracts were purchased from Speedcast by Inmarsat at the beginning of this year.
“Following the rapid and successful migration of the services of all these customers as part of the agreement with Speedcast, we are now delighted to have put in place a formal agreement for customer support with SRH Marine Electronics for Greek and Cypriot customers that will provide those customers with full local representation going forward,” said Ronald Spithout, President, Inmarsat Maritime.
Ronald Spithout, President, Inmarsat Martitime
The agreement will include customer support for Inmarsat’s Fleet Network Manager (formerly Sigma) portfolio of hardware products and only covers clients who held Inmarsat Maritime contracts formerly with Speedcast.
“We are delighted to sign this agreement with Inmarsat and look forward to providing a high-level of account management and customer support to this set of unique customers in Greece and Cyprus,” said Theodoros Nikolopoulos, Managing Director of SRH Marine Electronics.
Speedcast Reaches Agreement with Inmarsat to Sell Primary Maritime Customer Contracts
Speedcast International Limited and Inmarsat today announced that they have reached agreement on the sale of Speedcast’s primary Fleet Xpress, FleetBroadband and Fleet One service contracts to Inmarsat. The agreement marks another significant step for Speedcast as it looks to emerge from its Chapter 11 proceedings announced earlier this year, and is subject to approval by the U.S. courts overseeing the company’s financial restructuring.
Through the agreement, the Speedcast customers that are transferred to Inmarsat will be assured of continuing access to Inmarsat’s market-leading connectivity services. The agreement covers both Speedcast’s L-band maritime contracts in which Inmarsat serves as the primary connectivity onboard, as well as the full Inmarsat Fleet Xpress portfolio from Speedcast.
Ronald Spithout, President, Inmarsat Maritime, said: “Our first priority is to ensure that these transitioning Speedcast customers can continue to access Inmarsat’s reliable global maritime connectivity services and our growing range of value-added services now and into the future. With Inmarsat’s ongoing, fully-funded technology roadmap, these customers will benefit from the next-generation of Ka-band and L-band satellites that we are launching over the next few years. These will provide both additional capacity and capabilities to the network. Among the seven new satellites scheduled for launch in the next few years will be the first ever High Throughput Satellites (HTS) dedicated to the Arctic region.”
Andre Eerland, Vice President, Commercial Maritime at Speedcast said: “This agreement enables Speedcast to further strengthen our focus in the commercial maritime sector, delivering our leading global VSAT services, together with global L-band back-up capabilities. We pride ourselves on providing a flexible, high quality service that meets market demands and addresses the challenges of maritime connectivity. Taking this step allows us to consolidate our core connectivity services, which are scalable across all market needs, while remaining at the forefront of the maritime industry.”
Speedcast will continue to deliver managed services to its commercial maritime sector clients with primary VSAT and other non-Inmarsat mobile satellite services (MSS) onboard, and will maintain its Inmarsat Distribution Partner status to deliver existing MSS back-up services, with no impact to customer operations or support. Speedcast will also continue to deliver Inmarsat Land MSS services to its enterprise customers as part of the company’s land portfolio, with enterprise clients and sites unaffected by this agreement.
Inmarsat will take on management of the transitioned Inmarsat Maritime contracts, as well as the 24/7 operations and support for customers through its network operations and customer support centers. Customers will continue to receive the highest quality of service, with the deal including a fully supported handover to ensure a seamless transition.