Inmarsat, a leading mobile satellite services provider, has launched the world’s fastest on-demand mobile video streaming, said a statement.

An enhancement to Inmarsat’s BGAN service, which has been used in thousands of media reports worldwide, BGAN X-Stream guarantees streaming data rates from a minimum of 384 kbps to around 450 kbps. It is said to be the fastest rate available in a mobile satellite service.

The new premium IP streaming service is accessible through existing hardware – single, highly-compact and lightweight BGAN terminals from Hughes and Thrane & Thrane – without the need for external antenna or any additional hardware.

“We developed BGAN X-Stream in response to demands from broadcasters,” said Drew Brandy, head of land mobile services at Inmarsat.

“This enhancement represents an increase in BGAN’s streaming rate of at least 50 per cent.  It means that we can meet the demand for higher guaranteed data rates, and offer a service that moves closer to broadcast quality,” he added.

“The enhanced video quality of BGAN X-Stream enables broadcaster to defer, or even avoid, the need to use satellite news gathering trucks.  No matter where the story breaks, the global reach of BGAN X-Stream will deliver higher quality video to the studio from the remote broadcast.”

BGAN X-Stream, which became commercially available yesterday (April 20) on the Inmarsat-4 EMEA satellite, will be offered globally from the end of June, said a statement. – TradeArabia News Service