India approves Global Xpress satellite communications service

Inmarsat’s strategic partner BSNL has received the necessary licenses to deliver Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) mobile broadband services in India.

Under BSNL’s Inflight and Maritime Connectivity (IFMC) licence from the Department of Telecommunications, GX will be available to Indian customers across government, aviation and maritime.

There will be a phased introduction of services for customers and partners, but SpiceJet has already confirmed it will launch GX in-flight connectivity services later this year, when it introduces its new Boeing 737 MAX aircraft.

Rajeev Suri, Inmarsat CEO, said: “Today is a significant day for Inmarsat and our valued, long-term partnership with India, which was a signatory to the founding treaty establishing Inmarsat in 1979. Inmarsat is delighted to make the world’s only global high-speed mobile broadband Ka-band network available to the Government and businesses in India through our partner BSNL. We are committed to India and the company has been a trusted partner for the Indian government for four decades. Today’s announcement, which we share proudly with our friends at BSNL, will help to underpin the further economic growth that we all wish to see in India.”

Inmarsat is launching a further seven GX satellites, including its next generation GX satellites, over the coming three years, each of which will add more capacity into a single region than the first four satellites combined. The GX gateway for India is located in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Alexander Preston  www.inflight-online.com