Inmarsat, a mobile satellite communications provider, has announced that it will bring its maritime, aviation and enterprise connectivity solutions to customers based in Saudi Arabia through new partner agreements
The company announced that it has secured new spectrum licences to deliver both its narrow-band (L-band) and high-capacity broadband (Ka-band), Global Xpress (GX), services in Saudi Arabia, enabling Saudi-based businesses to deploy these services for the first time.
Fixed and mobile satellite telecommunications distributor Sada Al Ammah and Global Beam Telecom have been appointed as Inmarsat’s first distribution partners in Saudi Arabia and the region and they will work closely with Inmarsat’s Maritime, Aviation and Enterprise businesses to roll-out services in the region.
Global Beam Telecom & Sada Al Ammah will work with Inmarsat’s Enterprise business to bring the benefits of its connectivity services to land-based users in the Middle East.
Inmarsat’s Maritime business will partner with Sada Al Ammah to distribute connectivity services for merchant and offshore vessels operating in Saudi waters, providing full access to Inmarsat’s industry-leading Fleet Xpress services. It has also signed a separate installation agreement with service company Master Systems. Combining the high data speeds of Inmarsat’s GX Ka-band technology with the proven reliability of Inmarsat’s flagship FleetBroadband L-band service for unlimited backup, Fleet Xpress services will enable the digital transformation of Saudi and foreign-flagged vessels operating in the region.
Inmarsat’s Aviation business will work with Sada Al Ammah to deliver cockpit safety services and passenger cabin broadband Wi-Fi connectivity (GX Aviation for commercial airlines and Jet ConneX for business jets) to companies based in Saudi-Arabia, enabling airline and business aviation passengers to browse the internet, stream video and music, check and update social media and more during their flights.
Inmarsat’s L-band network provides connectivity services for users on land, at sea and in the air. The network enables a wide range of use cases such as fleet management, remote analytics, data transfer and other IoT/M2M applications in areas with non-existent or unreliable connectivity. Focus areas for these use cases will include oil and gas, transport and aid and non-governmental organisations (NGO).
Ronald Spithout, president of Inmarsat Maritime, said, “Owners now see the need for an ecosystem of value-added services to enable digitalisation, rather than just buying a Ku-band VSAT connectivity pipe. That’s why we are seeing demand for Inmarsat’s Fleet Data IoT platform, our Fleet Secure suite of cybersecurity services and our crew welfare and retention solution, Fleet Hotspot.”
