Facing unprecedented business challenges from the likes of Elon Musk’s Starlink and a raft of low-Earth-orbit (LEO) satellite providers such as OneWeb, Inmarsat Maritime has today made its response known.
Inmarsat, the dominant satellite communications provider to the shipping industry this century, today unveiled NexusWave, a network offering high-speed connectivity, unlimited data and global coverage, integrating multiple high-speed networks in real-time including Global Xpress (GX) Ka-band, LEO services, and as-available coastal LTE service with an additional layer of L-band. NexusWave will also integrate the next-generation ultra-high capacity high-speed ViaSat-3 Ka-band service, following expected entry into service in 2025.
The widespread, rapid adoption of Starlink internet services on hundreds of ships was arguably the biggest onboard tech development of 2023, something that has snowballed this year.
Musk started marketing Starlink to maritime customers in the middle of 2022 and within the space of around 12 months, many of the largest names in commercial and cruise shipping had signed up for fleet-wide deals for the service, which enables high-speed internet with speeds of over 200 Mbps, a significant leap forward in terms of internet speed and latency.
In a bid to grab an even greater market share, a number of Starlink’s authorised resellers have introduced a special deal whereby any ship with a registered IMO number can get two months of free five terabyte-a-month mobile priority service to trial the new technology.
Inmarsat has had to face up to losing some of its biggest clients in merchant and cruise shipping in recent months. Nevertheless, the president of Inmarsat Maritime, Ben Palmer (pictured), said today NexusWave could be a “game-changer”.
“At a time when reliable communications are a competitive advantage, maritime operators are seeking a value proposition tailored to their needs and rooted in high performance, certainty, and targeted outcomes. This is where NexusWave fulfills all of those demands, and more. Truly a game-changer in maritime communications, the new solution gives our customers the confidence to operate on their own terms, anywhere in the world, with complete peace of mind,” Palmer said.
Inmarsat and Viasat won’t survive the next year so as usual it’s a non story.
agree! Space X / Starlink already stole the market of the maritime sector not to mention their digital nomads customer with such an affordable and easy to understand unlimited data use!
A value proposition? Me thinks they are hoisting their own petard? As it has always been, the service can be two of three. Good, fast and cheap. Inmarsat has always been good, Never fast and whilst there was nobody else, cheap. Now it is expensive, slow and not cheap. Meshing networks, using buzzwords and adding Viasat Ka doesn’t change anything. Compare apples with apples. What do the respective networks charge for 1TB of data at 200Mbps? Starlink is $1000. VSAT would be $10,000 plus, FX cant do it, and FB certainly cannot. LTE is old cell technology and is basically useless.
Starlink is as good as any Ka service, it’s fast and it’s cheap.
There is reason SES and Intelsat are merging, Eutelsat and OneWeb has merged and KVH is failing… Too many players, a disruptive service (aka Starlink) and networks not fit for purpose. HIGH SPEED at an AFFORDABLE price…
Very true, however starlink is not universal and there are many countries (like China for example) where starlink has no service. Therefore we still need some kind of back up service (for now anyway)
Starling is not reliable as Ukraine found out, less technically than politically. Too much power in one man’s control.
Inmarsat brings an open and reliable service. Lower cost likely due to the market competition.