March 2009

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 Stratos Executes New Distribution Contracts with Inmarsat

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Bethesda, Maryland (March 30, 2009) - Stratos Global Corporation, the leading manufacturer of advanced mobile and fixed-site remote communications solutions, today announced it has executed new distribution contracts with Inmarsat, thus further expanding its commitment to providing vital communications services to its customers. The agreements take effect on April 15th, when the existing agreements expire, ensuring continuity of service for all of Stratos' Inmarsat customers.

The agreements cover the Space Services Access Agreement (SSAA) for the provision of traditional Inmarsat existing and evolved services (GAN, Fleet, etc.), the Network Service Distribution Agreement (NSDA) for the provision of Inmarsat I4 satellite services BGAN, FleetBroadband and SwiftBroadband, and the Lease Service Provider Agreement (LSPA) for the provision of lease services (both existing and evolved and I4 broadband).

"These agreements represent another important step in our relationship with Inmarsat," said Stratos President and CEO Jim Parm. "They further extend the relationship that was formed following the acquisition of Stratos by CIP Canada Investment Inc. and the call option we expect Inmarsat to be exercising for Stratos shares on or around April 15, 2009."

Parm concluded, "The execution of these new agreements provides continuity and stability for all of Stratos' Inmarsat users. This demonstrates our strong commitment to our customers and our partners."

Stratos is fully committed to providing vital communications solutions for a broad array of users with a combination of services that, in addition to Inmarsat offerings, include Iridium, VSAT, MSAT and Globalstar.

The complete press release can be viewed here.

Posted on Monday, March 30, 2009 by Tom Clark

 Iridium Extends Trade-Up Program

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Following the success of the initial Trade-Up to Iridium offer, which ran from January to September 2008, Iridium is re-launching this popular program, which provides pricing incentives of up to $700 for customers trading up from Globalstar to Iridium handsets and service.

“Based on requests by service providers and customers and due to the much-publicized degradation of Globalstar’s voice service, we’ve decided to re-initiate the program,” said Don Thoma, executive vice president, Marketing, Iridium. “Iridium’s goal is to ensure that satellite phone users have access to consistently reliable global satellite communications services. Our network is now recognized to be the only satellite communications service that dependably provides a critical communications lifeline everywhere.”

Effective February 20 to September 30, 2009, any Globalstar satellite phone user is eligible to trade in his or her handset for an Iridium satellite phone. The original program, which Iridium offered to government users, first responders, educational institutions and relief organizations, is now open to any end user from any market sector due to wide interest from non-public sector customers.

Through the Trade-Up to Iridium program, participating Iridium Service Providers will offer a credit of up to $300 on a new Iridium 9505A satellite phone to customers turning in an existing Globalstar handset. Participating Service Providers will also offer up to $300 in airtime credits when signing a customer for a qualified Iridium calling plan.

Iridium has made it easy for Iridium Service Providers to participate in and promote the program with a simple sign-up process and a full complement of ready-made marketing materials including press-ready and online brochures and ads.

Iridium Service Providers interested in participating in the Trade-Up to Iridium program should contact their account manager.

Posted on Saturday, March 28, 2009 by Tom Clark

 Vizada Launches Vizada Solutions Certification Program (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)

Posted in Vizada Bulletins (RSS)

WASHINGTON----Vizada today launched the Vizada Solutions™ Certification Program , a professional training program designed to give Vizada Partners the business and technical knowledge they need to increase their revenue by successfully selling, supporting and promoting the Vizada Solutions™ portfolio of value added solutions.

"*"Vizada Launches Vizada Solutions Certification Program (Business Wire via Yahoo! Finance)

Posted on Thursday, March 26, 2009 by Tom Clark

 Sasken in pact with Inmarsat for satellite phones (Reuters via Yahoo! Philippines News)

Posted in General Industry News (RSS)

MUMBAI, March 26 (Reuters) - Telecom products and software service provider Sasken Communication Technologies Ltd has signed a pact with British satellite communications firm Inmarsat to design global satellite hand-held phones.

"*"Sasken in pact with Inmarsat for satellite phones (Reuters via Yahoo! Philippines News)

Posted on Thursday, March 26, 2009 by Tom Clark

 Globalstar Announces Coface Backing for Proposed Financing (GlobeNewswire via Yahoo! Finance)

Posted in General Industry News (RSS)

MILPITAS, Calif., March 25, 2009 -- Globalstar, Inc. , a leading provider of mobile satellite voice and data services to businesses, government and individuals, today announced that Coface has agreed to provide a guaranty in support of a proposed $574 million credit facility to be extended by a syndicate of banks to Globalstar as borrower.

"*"Globalstar Announces Coface Backing for Proposed Financing (GlobeNewswire via Yahoo! Finance)

Posted on Thursday, March 26, 2009 by Tom Clark

 Inmarsat SMS Outage Notification

Posted in Vizada Bulletins (RSS)

TO ALL CONCERNED PARTIES:

Dear Customers:

I am writing to inform you that we will be upgrading the Ericsson (Acision) Short Message Service-Center in Burum on Tuesday 31st March and Wednesday 1st April. Both activities will cause a total outage for BGAN, Fleet BroadBand and Swift Broadband SMS users in all Satellite Regions (I-4 Americas, I-4 EMEA and I-4 Asia-Pacific region).

On Tuesday 31st at 22:00 UTC the planned SMS-C VMS Software upgrade will take place. This will cause a maximum period of four hours of service unavailability, and at 02.00 UTC the SMS service will be available again.

On Wednesday 1st of April at 22:00 UTC the planned SMS-C 5.2 Application upgrade will take place. This will cause a maximum period of five hours of service unavailability, and at 03.00 UTC the SMS service will be available again.

The planned activities are outlined below:

Reason for notice: SMS-C VMS software upgrade

Services affected: SMS users

Regions/Spots affected: I-4 Americas, I-4 EMEA and I-4 Asia-

Date of outage: 31st March 2009

Start of Maintenance period: 22:00UTC

End of Maintenance period: 0200UTC

Single or Multiple Outage(s) duration(s):

Single outage: 4 hours at 22:00UTC

Outage Impact: SMS outage

Terminal Types affected: All

Actions needed by user: None

Posted on Thursday, March 26, 2009 by Tom Clark

 Iridium 9555 Handheld Firmware Update

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Iridium has released new firmware (Version HT09007) for the 9555 Satellite Phone that offers improvements in customer experience and also provides support for Windows XP SP3.

The new firmware provides the following benefits:
  • The ability to use the 9555 as a modem
  • Improved voice quality
  • Fewer dropped calls and fades
  • Direct dialing from the SIM phone book
  • New AT Commands
The new firmware also resolves several issues from the previous version including:
  • Date representation
  • Character truncation that could occur in some cases with extended length SMS messages
  • A reboot problem that occurred in some cases when a long SMS message was received from another 9555
The firmware can be downloaded here Iridium9555Update.zip. The .zip file contains release notes and installation instructions. Please note that the download has been compressed but is still large at 37.8 MB.

If you have any questions about how this will affect you, please contact your Account Manager or you can contact Delta Wave at support@deltawavecomm.com

Posted on Friday, March 20, 2009 by Tom Clark

 Iridium Replaces Lost Satellite with In-Orbit Spare

Posted in Iridium Service Bulletins (RSS)

Iridium Replaces Lost Satellite with In-Orbit Spare
March 10, 2009

[Satellite Today 03-10-09] Iridium completed the replacement of its operational satellite lost in the Feb. 10 collision with a non-operational Russian military satellite, Iridium announced March 9.
    Iridium worked with Boeing and other constellation management teams to maneuver one of its in-orbit spares into the 66-satellite constellation, enabling continuity of its service to customers. “They moved quickly, efficiently and effectively to limit the minor service degradation caused by the collision and to return our constellation to its full configuration," Matt Desch, chairman and CEO of Iridium, said in a statement.
    Iridium has been working to determine solutions to avoid future collisions and endorses long-term investment to improve space situational awareness, Desch said.

Posted on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 by Tom Clark

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