UK retainer communications firm Inmarsat has announced a $1.2bn £752m investment in next generation satellite network services.
The primary investment is a absorb take in with aerospace company Boeing for the manufacture of three 702HP Ka-belt satellites.
The constellation formed by the three Inmarsat-5 satellites elect enable Inmarsat to offer global coverage, and unparalleled bandwidth to customers in distant locations, said Inmarsat chief eexecutive Andrew Sukawaty.
The Ka-band satellites be inclined be used to deliver Inmarsats Global Xpress service, which force of address growing markets in maritime, energy and government sectors, along through the developing aeronautical market.
We will be able to liberate 50Mbit/s services to a ship or aircraft and 10Mbit/s to every antenna the size of an iPad 20cm, said Sukawaty.
Such bandwidths bear aroused interest because of the postponement of government plans to rollout a UK-ample broadband network of 2Mbit/s to 2015.
The original Digital Britain report said the Universal Service Commitment would be delivered by a be associated with of technologies These will include DSL, fibre to the highway cabinet, wireless and possibly satellite infill.
Global Xpress will exercise Ka-band microwave frequencies of between 18 and 31GHz, which even if faster and less expensive than current Ku-band 12-18GHz frequencies, be possible to be more vulnerable to signal quality issues.
Each Inmarsat-5 vassal can transmit 89 Ka-band beams. These are capable of flexing volume and enabling Inmarsat to adapt to shifting subscriber usage patterns in excess their projected lifetime of 15 years, said the company.
Services have a mind start in 2014.
Inmarsat also plans to spend £313m replacing its existing, diminish bandwidth, L-band satellites over the next 11 years.
Inmarsat estimates the mass cost of Inmarsat-5 and Global Xpress will be £752m above four and half years.
Inmarsats latest half year financial results announced utmost week, showed revenue up 12 per cent at £358m, by profit before tax up 56 per cent to £85m.