22nd February 2016
On Wednesday 17th February 2016, Satcom Global welcomed 40 of our top dealers and customers in the Oceania region to attend our Satcom Global Partner and Customer Event, with guest presenters from leading satellite communications networks and hardware manufacturers.
General Manager of Satcom Global Oceania, Chris Leydon, welcomed the attendees to the Rydges Hotel in Brisbane, and proceeded to provide a company update featuring the latest news on the recent expansion of our product and services portfolio in the marine and offshore sectors. Following the rebranding of sister company AND Group into the Satcom Global brand last week, we are now able to offer expert engineering services and new marine and offshore product lines, which in the words of Chris ‘brings new experience, new services, and new products and manufacturers’ to the table.
Inmarsat were the first guest speakers to take the stage, revealing that FleetBroadband achieved a strong performance in 2015 and that the demand for enterprise services continues to grow, with a 12% increase on mobile satellite services overall. The audience also heard how Inmarsat took part in Nepal relief efforts, streaming the first news broadcast during the crisis in Nepal via their GX Ka-band service. Leading on from this, the network provider provided a full update on GlobalXpress , the first high-speed broadband network to span the world, and as well as info on the services different sectors, such as the maritime solution ‘FleetXpress’ which relies on merging existing I-4 Services. The latest news on the global VSAT service included confirmation of a trial currently underway in a Botswana quarry which is yielding very positive and promising results. In addition, it was highlighted that Inmarsat-4 F2 (I-4 F2) communications satellite will soon be live offering enhanced L-Band connectivity for customers in the Middle East and Asia (MEAS) region.
Next we turned to our local partners, Wireless Innovation, to provide a comprehensive overview of Cobham SATCOM’s Explorer Push-To-Talk (PTT), the latest solution utilising least cost routing to capture the ability to talk to many, anywhere. Trusted partner from Wireless Innovation, Neil Jamieson, summarised with ‘Explorer is the gateway to your radio network’.
Our friendly Tech Sales Support Manager in Oceania, Rod Skilton, revealed to our maritime customers and dealers how they can use satellite communications to boast crew welfare on-board as well as increase operational efficiency with our latest in-house developed solution. IPSignature 4 is our new multi-function device providing centralised control of vessel network connections and communications. Enabling ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) technology, IPSignature 4 provides access to high quality, low cost voice for business use and crew calling, as well as optimising data services for email and the web. Advanced network functionality and the unique dual board design for reliability and failover, ensuring you’re never left ‘all at sea.’
After a lunch break, next up was our friends at Iridium, who took to the stage to reveal the latest news on their Iridium NEXT constellation and the Iridium Certus service available on the new network. Expected to be completed in 2017, Nawal Gumusel, Regional Director - Oceania , explained that "the new constellation retains unique LEO architecture with 66 operational satellites, 6 in-orbit spares and 9 ground spares” bringing faster speeds and maintaining the reliability of Iridium’s truly global coverage.
Last but not least, trusted hardware manufacturer Beam Communications gave us a run-down of the latest satellite communications accessories from antennas and terminals, to satellite phone docking stations for Iridium and Inmarsat handhelds, and Iridium Push-To-Talk.
The afternoon was filled with live demonstrations of the different satellite communications solutions on the hotel’s exclusive roof deck overlooking Brisbane’s impressive skyline and river. The day concluded with an informal dinner thanking all our participants, speakers and guests for their continued support of Satcom Global over the years.
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