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BGAN repositioning and Asia Pacific coverage:

Note!  RBGAN users should know that their service has been discontinued as of December 15 in South America and will discontinue on December 31 elsewhere. 

The new Inmarsat I-4 satellite will enter service on January 7, at 98 degrees west, covering the Americas.  Please see the Inmarsat coverage page for details on this and the repositioning of the other two satellites.  (Note that the dates on this page are written day/month/year, e.g. 07/01/09 = January 7 2009.)

There will be service outages in some areas of BGAN coverage in January and February, as the Inmarsat satellites are repositioned for optimum coverage of the landmass areas. 

January 7 - February 2: Iceland, Ireland and parts of West Africa, the UK and Greenland

February 6 - 24: parts of Asia Pacific

Full global coverage will be complete as of February 24.  Users will need to point their BGAN to the new satellite location after repositioning of each satellite has been completed.  Older BGAN terminals may also need an upgrade.

Contact us at info (at) humaninet.org for more information.  Please use "BGAN" in the subject line of your email, and include the name of your organization and whether you are using RBGAN or BGAN service, or a satphone.  We will reply within three business days.

There are six models of BGAN terminals, with prices beginning at $1100.  Most of these models enable both voice and data communications.  The voice calls have been very good quality in our tests, with international calls at less than one US$ per minute.

The third Inmarsat I4 satellite was launched successfully on August 19.  The new satellite, called the F3, will provide BGAN service over the Pacific, East Asia, and other areas when it comes on line in Q1 or Q2 of 2009.

Please see our home page and ICT Features section for more on the BGAN terminals. 

The new Addvalue Sabre BGAN is the most affordable terminal, with both voice and data, and has been performing well for current users.  Bob Rivers, of radio station KZOK Seattle, used a Sabre for a week of live radio broadcasts with a World Vision team in Senegal - you can hear the broadcasts on the KZOK Web site.  Also, please see our article on the Sabre 1.

We have begun testing of the "Loband" service (www.loband.org) as a way for BGAN and RBGAN users to view Web pages with graphics and pictures removed, leaving text only.  Please let us know if you have used Loband, and if it worked for you.

Please contact info (at) humaninet.org for more information.  

Iridium satellite phones available at discount

We have found a source of very affordable Iridium phones for $599 (used, with spare battery and 30 day warranty) and $899 (new, with one year warranty).   

These are the 9500 model phones, which have proven to be very reliable and which can be used for email and text messaging.  Current RBGAN owners who are looking for an alternative for field email before the RBGAN service is discontinued at the end of 2008 should consider the 9500 phone with data kit connection to the laptop.

These units are the most affordable option we have found for voice plus email and text messaging in remote locations.  Airtime rates are the lowest ever, from 66 to 83 cents per minute in some regions. 

Please contact us at info (at) humaninet.org for more information.

HumaniNet has a small number of Iridium satphones available for loan to qualifying humanitarian and mission teams.  Please contact info (at) humaninet.org.

Compressing your email, Saving $.  If you depend upon remote satellite or HF radio services for your email, you may have heard of "compression" and asked: how does it work, and how does it help? Read more and learn about the popular UUPlus solution.

For more information and pricing of mobile satellite services, contact us at info (at) humaninet.org and include your organization, region of interest, and general requirement for field communications.  Thank you.

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RBGAN and BGAN reports

New article - RBGAN and BGAN users will find this helpful:

"Holding down usage over RBGAN and BGAN - 11 tips for controlling your costs," by Eric Hoenigmann and Mike Bizub, one of our ICT Features for August 2007.

RBGAN service to continue only through 2008 - but stay tuned . . .

In late 2006, we announced that Inmarsat plans to discontinue RBGAN service as of end 2008.  It is unlikely that this service will be extended, as Inmarsat is promoting the BGAN as a single worldwide solution for mobile satellite. 

Wireless Networking in the Developing World

Imagine trying to piece together a wireless network with no manuals, sporadic and slow access to the Internet, inadequate tools, a shortage of supplies, and in the most inclement weather. A recently published book, "Wireless Networking in the Developing World," is a highly regarded resource for solving these problems.  You can access this book in PDF form, at no cost, at http://wndw.net/news.html.

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