Enhancements to digital maritime services in AOR-W

Users of digital maritime services in Atlantic Ocean Region West (AOR-W) will benefit from enhanced coverage with the entry into commercial servie of the second Inmarsat-4 (I-4) satellite.

In-orbit testing (IOT) of the I-4's payload is now complete and the satellite is being drifted to its operational location at 53 degrees West above northern Brazil.

Piers Cunningham, head of Maritime Market Management at Inmarsat: "This transition will substantially enhance the coverage of maritime services that utilize spot-beams in the AOR-W ocean region.

"It will also ensure that the service reliability for which Inmarsat is renowned continues for many years to come, as well as laying the foundations over which FleetBroadband will operate."

The services that will immediately benefit from the coverage enhancement in the AOR-W ocean region are outlined below.

All other services (including safety service provision) remain unaffected.

• Inmarsat Fleet F77 - 128kbps ISDN data
• Inmarsat Fleet F55 - 64kbps ISDN data, MPDS & fax
• Inmarsat F33 - 9.6kbps data, MPDS & fax
• Inmarsat mini-M - voice, fax and data services.

In summary, maritime spot-beam service provision within this ocean region will be accessible within the satellites global footprint. There may be delays to the timing which may be unforeseen and Inmarsat will provide updated information as and when available. To benefit from enhanced coverage, terminals within the coverage of the second I-4 in the AOR-W will have to ensure they are logged on to AOR-W.

The transition of the Inmarsat A service in the Atlantic Ocean Region West (AOR-W) from Inmarsat-3 F4 to Inmarsat-2 F2, will take place at 14:00 UTC on Sunday, January 15.

The migration had originally been planned for 14:00 UTC on Sunday, January 8, but has now been rescheduled to the new date.

Inmarsat wishes to apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.

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