Inmarsat in major expansion plans

London-based global satellite operator Inmarsat has unveiled plans to raise £380m through a stock market flotation.

The group, which offers advanced satellite communications services to, among others, the military, airlines, shipping and broadcasters, would be worth over £1bn if the flotation proceeds as expected later this month.

The cash will help Inmarsat pursue its ambitious plans to offer high-speed broadband services covering 98 per cent of the world’s population by the end of next year.

The group recently launched the first of its Inmarsat-4 satellites, which will support its Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) system. BGAN will herald a major expansion of Inmarsat’s capabilities on land, adding to its established technologies serving the aerospace and marine sectors.

According to Inmarsat, BGAN will offer end-users ‘data transmission rates of 492kb/s, similar to, and in some cases higher than, the transmission rates planned for 3G terrestrial wireless networks.’ Target applications include video conferencing and providing private corporate data networks.