BGAN, currently planned for commercial launch in late 2005, will offer high-speed circuit-switched and packet data services, plus voice telephony, via a portfolio of small, lightweight user terminals.

Telenor recently announced its selection by Inmarsat as a premier service provider of the next generation of mobile satellite communications.

The selection of Telenor Satellite Services by Inmarsat confirms Telenor's position as the industry leader, adding to the company's selection last year as a BGAN Interconnect Partner for the aggregation of voice and ISDN calls, and terrestrial interconnection to BGAN.

Currently, Telenor is developing and expanding agreements with international telecommunications carriers for routing traffic to BGAN terminals upon commercial launch of the service.

"With our business agreement with Inmarsat firmly in place, Telenor is focusing its resources on training and preparing our global distribution network to offer BGAN service on the day it becomes commercially available," said Tore Hilde, chief executive officer of Telenor Satellite Services.

"BGAN is set to revolutionize the global mobile communications market and it bodes extremely well that a preeminent Distribution Partner, Telenor Satellite Services, will be on the front line of this communications revolution from day one," said Michael Butler, chief operating officer of Inmarsat.

The enhanced capabilities of the BGAN system are made possible through a new generation of satellites known as Inmarsat 4 (I-4), the first of which was successfully launched in March 2005, and is now in service.

The Inmarsat 4 generation of satellites is the most powerful communication satellites ever launched by any commercial organization.

Migration of Inmarsat Services to the I-4 Satellite Underway

In late May, Inmarsat transitioned all digital satellite services throughout the Indian Ocean Region to the new I-4 satellite. The services include Inmarsat B, C, Mini-C, D, D+, M, Mini-M, Global Area Network (GAN), and Fleet.

The transitioning of the services was transparent and required no action by users of these services.

However, the migration of these services dramatically increased coverage throughout the Indian Ocean Region and the increased power of the new satellite has expanded the remote communications applications in the region.

Telenor Satellite Services continues to offer worldwide Inmarsat services in all ocean regions through its global terrestrial network.

Regional BGAN Coverage Due to Expand

Inmarsat announced plans to transition Regional Broadband Global Area Network (Regional BGAN) service to the new I-4 satellite in July. This move will significantly expand Regional BGAN service to include almost all land areas throughout the Pacific Rim, Asia, Africa and Europe.

A software upgrade is required to update Regional BGAN terminals once the service is moved to the I-4 satellite. The free software upgrade is available from Telenor.

Telenor's Regional BGAN service offers reliable, 24-hour-a-day Internet Protocol (IP) connectivity at data speeds of up to 144 kbps via a secure channel.

The service affords enterprise customers, governments, global and regional businesses, and educational facilities the ability to extend their corporate networks in a secure environment and access the Internet, via satellite, regardless of the local communications infrastructure.

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