Inmarsat and ITC Global have announced a five year strategic collaboration. Inmarsat is a global Ka-band services provider, and ITC Global is a global Ku-band provider. The two organisations plan to combine their offerings, seen as market-leading, to offer broadband connectivity, paired with high-value connectivity solutions to customers in the maritime, yachting and offshore energy sectors.

ITC Global will offer Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress service, incorporating the Ka-band solution into its existing range of Ku-band connectivity services. Fleet Xpress for Offshore is powered by the Global Xpress Ka-band network, combined with Inmarsat’s flagship, FleetBroadband L-band service.

Designed to deliver high data speeds, continuous connectivity and guaranteed performance, the Ka-band service, now installed on over 8,000 vessels, provides low cost voice calls, multiple voice options for crew and operations and high-speed broadband for internet access, plus 24/7 online support by certified engineers. For offshore clients, Fleet Xpress provides added subscription flexibility to meet seasonal and short-term demand changes.

Eric Griffin, Inmarsat Maritime, Vice President Offshore & High End Fishing, said: “We are pleased to secure the support of a key partner in ITC Global, which reflects our own commitment to providing the offshore and wider maritime community with uniquely global, reliable and flexible broadband connectivity anywhere in the world to meet their rapidly growing digitalisation needs.”

ITC Global is a subsidiary of Panasonic Avionics Corporation, delivering high-speed, high-capacity communications services to customers across the oil and gas, mining, merchant maritime and passenger vessel markets.

“Using our combined expertise of Ku-, L- and Ka-bands, we will be well-positioned to meet the individual demands of maritime and offshore customers,” said Ian Dawkins, CEO at ITC Global. “The agreement will enable us to extract further value from the synergies between our organisations and leverage our mutual technology and product innovations to fully support the operational requirements of customers.”

In September 2018, Inmarsat and Panasonic Avionics Corporation agreed a similar collaboration to offer broadband in-flight connectivity (IFC) paired with high-value services to customers in the commercial aviation industry worldwide.