Inmarsat OKs EMS Satcom Data Terminal

EMS Satcom said Inmarsat approved its eNfusion HSD-400 High-speed Data terminal, which the company said makes it the first commercially available product approved for use with Inmarsat's SwiftBroadband network. The company made the announcement at the National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) conference in Atlanta. Originally introduced as a
Swift64 terminal in November of 2004, and delivered in June of 2005, the HSD-400 terminal is software upgradeable to support the new SwiftBroadband services, offering background class and streaming class services. EMS Satcom said the background-class service is ideal for Internet and e-mail traffic as the user pays by the megabit. It is a cost-effective service that is always connected. The streaming-class service is best suited to videoconferencing and other real-time applications and provides guaranteed data rates at 32, 64 and 128 kbps. "With the launch of SwiftBroadband and our announcement to launch the third I-4 satellite next year, Inmarsat is in a strong position to capitalize on the need for in-flight connectivity," said Michael Butler, Inmarsat's president and chief operating officer.