Newsroom
Stratos Reaches Milestone of 3000 BGAN Activations Worldwide
-- Customers in 185 countries fully utilize Stratos' value-added services, which make BGAN usage more productive and affordable --
Bethesda, Md. (April 17, 2007) - Stratos Global Corp. (TSX: SGB), the leading global provider of advanced mobile and fixed-site remote communications solutions, today announced it has reached the milestone of its 3,000th BGAN activation worldwide.
Stratos is the world's largest distributor of Inmarsat's BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network), a mobile satellite service that uses lightweight terminals to provide simultaneous, high-speed data (up to 492 kbps) and voice connectivity anywhere in the world.
Since its introduction last year, BGAN from Stratos has been widely adopted by military & NGO agencies, media organizations, first responders and professionals in many other industries worldwide.
Stratos now boasts BGAN customers in 185 countries, which cover 95 percent of the BGAN footprint. These customers fully utilize the Stratos Advantage, a suite of value-added services that help make BGAN usage more productive and affordable.
With the benefit of the Stratos Advantage, BGAN from Stratos is elevated far above baseline BGAN services. The value-added services provide users with cost control, firewall management, full traffic information, pre-paid facilities, high security options, easy VPN access, messaging services and full IP range.
"To earn our position as the world's largest distributor of Inmarsat products, we have continually succeeded in providing valuable services that make mobile satellite solutions easy to use and efficient to own," said Stratos President and CEO Jim Parm. "The Stratos Advantage builds on that tradition of excellence. It optimizes the BGAN experience by providing financial savings and control, and offering first-class security and support."
He added, "Our rapid rollout of 3,000 BGAN activations over such a wide geographic area, combined with our industry-leading Stratos Advantage services, make Stratos the ideal partner for those looking to benefit from the latest high-speed mobile voice/data service."
Stratos Dashboard and Stratos Trench are the Foundation of the Stratos Advantage
Stratos Dashboard for BGAN
To monitor and control costs, the online Stratos Dashboard provides real-time information on the amount of BGAN traffic used for voice and data, and the associated costs. The Stratos Dashboard is fully automated and enables customers to activate SIM cards in minutes and modify BGAN service configurations in real time, as well as manage the consumption per SIM or groups of SIMs. The Stratos Dashboard is a multi-access-level system that is accessible by customers as well as by end-users in the field.
Stratos Trench for BGAN (Customer Managed Firewall)
Stratos Trench is a personal firewall physically placed between the Internet and the BGAN network. It provides additional security and cost savings by blocking specific web traffic and applications via an online user-friendly interface. It also allows customers to block access to streaming services (32, 64, 128, 256 kbps), which can prevent unwanted high costs.
Other components of the Stratos Advantage include:
Stratos BusinessAccess for BGAN
Corporate customers can easily extend their Local-Area Networks (LANs) to BGAN-connected laptops using Stratos' secure BusinessAccess service, which creates a fully private network between a company's BGAN users and the corporate intranet. Stratos BusinessAccess is ideally suited for corporate and military users, who gain added security by deploying a leased line between the BGAN network and their headquarters.
Stratos GuaranteedAccess
Stratos GuaranteedAccess extends BGAN's guaranteed bandwidth (streaming 32, 64, 128, 256 kbps) to the terrestrial infrastructure, either ISDN or via leased lines. Customers using Stratos GuaranteedAccess receive end-to-end guaranteed bandwidth, ensuring that they always receive the capacity they pay for. Stratos GuaranteedAccess is ideally suited for media users, who use real-time streaming solutions.
Stratos IP Access for BGAN
Stratos IP Access enables customers to benefit from all possible types of Internet access via public, private, static and dynamic IP addresses - enabling support for all applications and network requests.
Global Network and Terrestrial Delivery Options
Stratos has upgraded its StratosNexus network infrastructure to a fully IP-based system that supports end-to-end streaming, personal firewalls and satellite-optimized data compression. BGAN from Stratos leverages Stratos' extensive global Internet points-of-presence and enhanced terrestrial core network to ensure fast delivery of data traffic once it hits the ground. Customers have access to dedicated point-to-point leased line and ISDN connections to provide a reliable and efficient last-mile solution to bring mobile satellite traffic from the field to their headquarters office in the most reliable and secure manner.
Stratos Prepaid Services for BGAN
Stratos Prepaid is fully managed on the BGAN Dashboard. These services enable users to pay for their BGAN airtime usage in advance, making it easy to adhere to their budgetary guidelines. End-users can pay for additional usage with their credit card and view their traffic details and prepaid balance online on the BGAN Dashboard. Stratos Prepaid Services are especially attractive to first responders, who typically insist on a fixed budget for communications services.
For more information on BGAN from Stratos, please visit
www.thepowerofbgan.com.
About Stratos
Stratos is the world's trusted leader for vital communications. Stratos offers the most powerful and extensive portfolio of remote communications solutions including mobile and fixed satellite and microwave services. More than 20,000 customers use Stratos products and industry-leading value-added services to optimize communications performance. Stratos serves U.S. and international government, military, first responder, NGO, oil and gas, industrial, maritime, aeronautical, enterprise, and media users on seven continents and across the world's oceans. Stratos is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Inmarsat plc. For more information, visit www.stratosglobal.com.
For additional information :
Carla Riggs
Director, Corporate Communications
+1 709 748 4857
carla.riggs@stratosglobal.com