Iridium Reports Spectacular Growth for Mobile Satellite
Services in Aeronautical Market During Last 12 Months
Iridium Satellite today reported that its satellite
communications customer base in the aviation market
has more than doubled during the past 12 months.
As of June 2006, the installed base of Iridium aeronautical
terminals has surged to more than 7,500, with an average
of more than 300 new units being commissioned each month.
“The aviation sector is currently one of the fastest
growing markets for Iridium,” said Don Thoma, executive
vice president of Iridium Satellite. “There is
a growing recognition in the marketplace of Iridium’s
unique value proposition for aeronautical mobile satellite
services. Iridium is the only satellite network that
offers truly global pole-to-pole coverage without any
service gaps. We offer a range of cost-effective voice
and data solutions that are well-suited for the needs
of the aviation market. And our value-added partners
and service providers continue to bring out innovative
products and solutions tailored to the needs of this
specialized market.”
Iridium reports that its aviation business is growing
beyond the core general aviation and business jet market.
“Much of our current growth is in helicopter fleets,
especially air ambulance and rescue services,”
said Thoma. “We are also getting increasing interest
from passenger carriers for operational and safety communications
on long-distance, over-the-water routes, as well as
passenger phone and email services.”
“For example, at the beginning of this year, El
Al Airlines announced the first Iridium-based passenger
calling service using prepaid scratch cards on its Boeing
767 long-haul jets,” said Thoma.
Iridium has made significant progress in its bid to
gain approval from the International Civil Aviation
Organization (ICAO) to provide air traffic safety communications.
In November, ICAO’s Air Navigation commission reviewed
and accepted the draft Standard and Recommended Practices
(SARPs) covering the use of Iridium for Aeronautical
Mobile Satellite (Route) Service, or AMS(R)S. The draft
SARPs have gone out for comments from ICAO member states
and are expected to be approved by the ICAO Council
in November 2007. In May, a special ICAO working group
reviewed Iridium’s draft technical and implementation
manuals.
Iridium recently completed successful trials of the
first ACARS-compliant (Aircraft Communication Addressing
and Reporting System), Iridium-based messaging solution.
Iridium's ACARS service will be commercially available
in the third quarter of 2006, providing customers with
the extended range of Iridium’s global satellite
network in areas not covered by ACARS VHF systems.
Iridium’s market base in the business jet sector
continues to grow. Many airframe manufacturers are specifying
Iridium as standard or optional OEM equipment, and the
aftermarket for Iridium retrofits remains strong, according
to Thoma.
Bombardier Aerospace, for instance, recently announced
that it will offer dual-channel Iridium satphone systems
as standard equipment on its new Challenger 605 widebody
business jets, which are due to enter service in late
2007. Bombardier also installs Iridium terminals on
its other Challenger, Global 5000, Global Express and
Learjet business jets.
During the past six months, Iridium’s service
partners have reported an upsurge in installations for
helicopter fleets. “This has been in part driven
by the response to the communications breakdown on the
U.S. Gulf Coast after last year’s hurricane season,
which devastated the region’s landlines and cellular
infrastructure, leaving satellite phones as the only
reliable means of communicating,” noted Thoma.
Era Helicopters, one of the largest helicopter fleets
servicing the Gulf of Mexico offshore oil industry,
recently equipped its fleet with Iridium terminals.
A number of medical transport and rescue helicopter
fleets around the world have also started installing
Iridium equipment, not only for voice communications
but for automatic flight following and remote status
reporting as well. Recent major sales include German
Air Rescue service, Japanese Fire and Disaster Management
Agency, Luxembourg Air Rescue and Washington, D.C. based
MedStar.
The New York Air National Guard has just completed
the installation of Iridium terminals to provide voice
and data communications with its fleet of C130 aircraft
flying missions on behalf of the National Science Foundation
(NSF) Operation Deep Freeze research projects in Antarctica.
Iridium terminals are also being installed on military
helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft by several European
defense forces.
Thoma noted that while voice telephony still represents
a large percentage of Iridium’s overall satellite
traffic, data traffic is increasing at twice the rate
of voice calls through the network. This year, Iridium
started shipping its new lower-cost 9601 satellite modem
to support the growing demand for short-burst data applications.
“We expect to see dramatic growth in the use of
Iridium for flight following, messaging, remote systems
monitoring and Out-Off-On-In (OOOI) reporting,”
he said.
The current Iridium satellite constellation is expected
to continue in service through 2014 without the need
for new satellites. This year, Iridium initiated an
engineering study program to develop plans for the next-generation
satellite system. The company has contracted with major
industry firms to collect and analyze performance data
from its existing satellites. The next step will be
to look at the technology and products that will be
needed to extend network life for the next two decades
and beyond.
“We believe that Iridium is well positioned to
continue its rapid market penetration in the aviation
industry in the next few years. We are now by far the
largest provider of aeronautical mobile satellite services,
and we project continued double-digit growth for the
foreseeable future,” said Thoma, who noted that
Iridium will also announce plans for new service offerings
for the aeronautical sector in the next few months.
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25 October 2006
