Speedcast International (ASX: SDA), a provider of high-speed broadband connectivity to the global maritime industry, has signalled growing industry acceptance for Global Xpress-powered services from Inmarsat (LSE: ISAT.L) by adding more than 350 ships to the service roll-out plans it announced one year ago, including a number of high-end vessels in the energy, cruise and leisure markets.
Adding to the initial commitment to deploy Fleet Xpress onboard approximately 2,000 vessels over five years, the additional provision has been agreed to satisfy healthy demand from Speedcast’s more bandwidth-hungry vessels, which could also use a stand-alone Global Xpress service to satisfy bandwidth demand.
Alongside the addition of the high-end vessels, Inmarsat is also broadening its commercial partnership with Speedcast in the Greek maritime market, further to the strategic alliance formed last summer.
Speedcast provides complete managed communications and IT solutions in the Cargo, Offshore, Cruise and Fishing vessel sectors. It recently became the first Inmarsat partner to integrate the digital base platform (formerly known as SoftNSD) into its service offering. This allows Speedcast to offer value added solutions and applications over its own SIGMA Gateway, encouraging third party application providers to develop innovative, content-rich applications over Fleet Xpress. Applications covering real-time analysis of data for engine monitoring, weather information and fuel consumption rates, etc., can deliver real gains in operational efficiency, safety and compliance, IT security and crew welfare.