Inmarsat (News - Alert), a provider of global mobile satellite communications services, is offering its FleetBroadband and new Assured Access services to Shared Services Canada (SSC) to enable worldwide coverage for 29 Canadian naval vessels.

The SSC was established by the Government of Canada in August 2011 with the sole purpose to consolidate its data centers, telecommunications and e-mail systems. Inmarsat has agreed with SSC to provide the services on naval vessels.

Andy Start, president of Inmarsat Global Government, said, “This deployment demonstrates our ability to meet the rapidly evolving communications requirements of one of the world’s most advanced naval forces. We are grateful for this continued confidence to meet the Canadian government’s exacting performance criteria, and to deliver the critical communications capabilities they need.”

Inmarsat began deploying the services to the Canadian Navy in October 2012. Inmarsat launched its FleetBroadband service in 2007 and since then deployed it on over 30,000 commercial and government vessels, officials revealed.

The FleetBroadband service will deliver global broadband connectivity to ships at sea. Users on the ship can enjoy optimum connectivity via e-mail, data services and voice communications.

The new Assured Access service provides government customers with priority access to Inmarsat satellite network resources through their Subscriber Identification Modules (SIM). Also, Assured Access subscribers will receive a specific grade of FleetBroadband, Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) or SwiftBroadband service within pre-defined geographic areas.

This will ensure capacity and network access even in critical situations.

Inmarsat’s BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) service is essentially a mobile satellite offering which leverages portable, lightweight terminals that deliver video streaming of up to 384 kbps, high-speed data download of up to 492 kbps and voice connectivity across the globe.

FleetBroadband is the maritime version of BGAN, while SwiftBroadband is the aeronautical version. In effect, both of them deliver high-speed data and voice communications simultaneously at speeds of up to 432kbps.

Recently, Honeywell agreed with Inmarsat to be the exclusive wireless airtime reseller for Inmarsat Global Xpress Ka-band aircraft connectivity services and hardware for business aviation jet customers. The five-year agreement will give airplane operators, pilots and passengers access to a higher-speed, in-flight wireless broadband network worldwide.