Inmarsat is to take over Speedcast’s primary Fleet Xpress, FleetBroadband and Fleet One service contracts following a deal between the companies, part of Speedcast’s ongoing restructuring as it looks to emerge from bankruptcy proceedings initiated earlier this year.
The agreement covers both Speedcast’s L-band maritime contracts in which Inmarsat serves as the primary connectivity onboard, as well as the company’s full Fleet Xpress portfolio. Customers that are transferred under the deal will be assured of continued access to connectivity through the transition, the companies said.
“Our first priority is to ensure that these transitioning Speedcast customers can continue to access Inmarsat’s reliable global maritime connectivity services and our growing range of value-added services now and into the future,” said Ronald Spithout, President, Inmarsat Maritime.
“With Inmarsat’s ongoing, fully-funded technology roadmap, these customers will benefit from the next-generation of Ka-band and L-band satellites that we are launching over the next few years. These will provide both additional capacity and capabilities to the network.”
“Among the seven new satellites scheduled for launch in the next few years will be the first ever High Throughput Satellites (HTS) dedicated to the Arctic region.”
The contract is subject to approval by the US courts overseeing the company’s financial restructuring before the changeover can take place.
Speedcast says it will continue to deliver managed services to its commercial maritime sector clients with primary VSAT and other non-Inmarsat mobile satellite services (MSS) on board, and will maintain its Inmarsat Distribution Partner status to deliver existing MSS back-up services.
Speedcast will also continue to deliver Inmarsat Land MSS services to its enterprise customers as part of the company’s land portfolio, with enterprise clients and sites unaffected by this agreement.
