The first voice call was placed from Inmarsat's Satellite Access Station, which is managed by Xantic in Burum, The Netherlands, and was delivered with outstanding quality.  The BGAN service takes advantage of advanced voice coding technology, giving excellent voice quality at a data rate of only 4kbps.  The BGAN voice capability will support both traditional and Bluetooth handset technology, and can be used simultaneously with the high-speed data service.

 

"This is a fantastic achievement that puts us ahead in the development and testing phase for BGAN," said Paul Griffith, Vice President for Product Management & Marketing at Inmarsat.  "A high-quality voice capability is a significant element of the BGAN service, and I am delighted to see such excellent results from this first test.  It is a testament to the expertise and hard work of the Inmarsat and Nera teams."

 

Terje Ask-Henriksen, President of Nera SatCom, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nera, said: "We are really proud to be part of this major breakthrough.  It is terrific to witness the result of several years of hard development work. The successful voice test strengthens our belief that we are about to launch a truly great product, which will be ready in time for Inmarsat's BGAN service launch."

 

The Inmarsat-4 satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on 11th March, and has successfully completed the in-orbit testing.  It is now being moved into its operational station at 64º East, over the Indian Ocean.

 

It was during the testing phase that Inmarsat was able to place the first voice call with the Nera BGAN terminal; previous voice tests for the new satellite had used existing GAN terminals.

 

BGAN is scheduled for commercial launch at the end of 2005.  In addition to the voice service, it will offer high-speed data connectivity at speeds of up to 492kbps.