BSNL Will Offer Satellite Communication For These Users; Receives License From Inmarsat

To offer Inmarsat’s Global Xpress (GX) mobile broadband services in India, Inmarsat said that its strategic partner in India, the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited(BSNL) has received an Inflight and Maritime Connectivity (IFMC) license from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT)on Wednesday. 

Offering Satellite Communications

Basically, this IFMC license will allow BSNL to offer Inmarsat’s Xpress satellite communication (Satcom) services to the Brtish company’s government, aviation and maritime customers here. 

Apart from this, India’s airline companies will be able to deploy GX for in-flight connectivity within Indian and globally.

On the other hand, commercial maritime companies will be able to digitalize their vessels for improved operations and crew welfare services, an official statement said. 

Further adding that these services will be introduced in the country in phases for customers and partners. 

Global High-speed Mobile Broadband Ka-band Network 

Earlier, Inmarsat has signed up deals with SpiceJet Ltd. and Shipping Corporation of India Ltd. 

It has already offered L-band (1GHz to 2GHz) services in India. 

Although, its new GX network operates in the high-bandwidth Ka-band (26.5Ghz to 40GHz). 

Apart from this, the Satcom company is also launching a further seven high-capacity GX satellites over the coming three years. 

The GX gateway for India is situated in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Inmarsat CEO,  Rajeev Suri said, “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,”.

The Chairman and Managing Director of BSNL, P. K. Purwar said, “BSNL and Inmarsat are delighted to share this key milestone with our partners and customers in India… All of us at BSNL appreciate the commitment to excellence shown by the Indian Government as we have worked on approvals to deliver this service to the country,”. 

Inmarsat is all set to combine its existing geosynchronous (GEO) satellite networks [GX and Inmarsat ELERA in the L-band] with low-earth orbit (LEO) satellites and terrestrial 5G to offer an integrated solution, ORCHESTRA.