Update on Inmarsat BGAN HDR testing

BGAN HDR will be available on the new Explorer 710 terminal

Back in April we told you about the new BGAN HDR service which will be used in conjunction with the new Explorer 710 terminal to provide the fastest satellite data speeds on the Inmarsat BGAN service.

Here at GTC we saw the Explorer 710 at the DSEI exhibition in London this week and were impressed with how compact the terminal was.

BGAN HDR is expected to be made available in Europe, Middle East and Asia in October and then globally during November and Inmarsat have this week given some exciting updates on the new service:

Streaming rates achieved

• Streaming rates of over 700kbps at full channel have been successfully achieved on the I-4 network

• Using an 'external' bonding solution ('native' bonding is not available until November), a streaming rate of 1.5Mbps has been maintained

Testing considerations

• Testing was undertaken in Portugal on the edge of a spot beam, so the indicative streaming rates highlighted above are extremely encouraging

• We are currently still giving guidance however, as per previous communications, that the expected streaming rate will be around 650kbps

• More precise, guaranteed performance figures will be defined following beta testing in late September / early October

Pricing options

BGAN HDR will support a portfolio of four streaming rates, with corresponding decreasing price points as follows:

• Full channel symmetric - premium service, with significantly increased streaming rate in each direction

• Half channel symmetric - similar streaming rate to the existing BGAN X-Stream service, but offering better value for money

• Full channel asymmetric - in response to customer and market demand - providing a significantly increased streaming rate in the return direction, with a much smaller speed in the forward direction

• Half channel asymmetric - similar price point to the existing 256Kbps service, but likely to deliver a greater throughput (in testing it is currently delivering up to 380Kbps)

Once BGAN HDR is launched, there will be an introductory offer running until 31 December 2013 under which the full channel service will be discounted to match the current BGAN X-Stream per minute pricing.