Iridium® Provides Satellite Links for Western Australia Firefighting Service
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Iridium Asset Tracking Increases by More Than 400 Percent as International Public Safety Organizations Rely on Iridium for Real-Time Data Services
BETHESDA, Md. - October 23, 2007 - Applied Satellite Technology Australia Pty Ltd (AST Australia), an Iridium® value-added reseller, has won a major contract from the Australian Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC) West Australian Fire Management Services. The contract will supply DEC an Iridium-based satellite communication system, which includes remote asset tracking, the service driving Iridium growth fastest in the market today.
The integrated satellite communication system will provide automatic tracking of 150 fire fighting vehicles using Iridium's short-burst data (SBD) service. The system will also involve voice and data communications using fixed and handheld Iridium satellite phones. It will provide for automated filing of status and after-action reports to headquarters through the satellite SBD link.
Greg Ewert, executive vice president of Iridium Satellite, observed, "Through our rapidly-growing remote asset tracking business, our SBD subscriber activations increased at a rate of 403 percent during the past 12 months. Iridium has witnessed a surging demand for reliable, low-latency data links for tracking mobile assets worldwide. We're pleased to have the DEC on-board as yet another user of our valuable SBD service."
Equipment to be supplied under the contract includes a mix of Iridium 9601 SBD transceivers, Iridium 9505A satellite handsets and Beam Communications RST620 satellite voice/data kits.
Henrik Jacobsen, managing director of AST Australia, said, "We have been working closely with DEC for almost two years, trialing various satellite communication options. We selected Iridium because of its ubiquitous gap-free coverage over the entire service area, and its unmatched record of reliable connectivity, both of which were critical requirements for this important safety network."
About Iridium Satellite
Iridium Satellite LLC (www.iridium.com) is the only provider of truly global satellite voice and data solutions with complete coverage of the earth (including oceans, airways and Polar Regions). Iridium delivers essential communications services to and from remote areas where no other form of communication is available. The Iridium constellation consists of 66 low-earth orbiting (LEO), cross-linked satellites and has multiple in-orbit spares. The constellation operates as a fully meshed network and is the largest commercial satellite constellation in the world. The Iridium service is ideally suited for industries such as maritime, aviation, government/military, emergency/humanitarian services, mining, forestry, oil and gas, heavy equipment, transportation and utilities. Iridium provides service to the U.S. Department of Defense. The company also designs, builds and sells its services, products and solutions through a worldwide network of more than 150 partners.
About AST Australia
Based in Perth and Sydney, AST Australia (www.asta.net.au) specializes in providing a flexible and complete range of satellite communication equipment to the maritime, land and air markets. The company is a partially owned subsidiary of the AST Group of companies, with offices in the United Kingdom and Singapore.
About Beam Communications Pty Ltd
The Beam subsidiary was established in late 2002, making a substantial investment in the development and manufacturing of remote satellite communications solutions for the global telecommunications market. Beam became the first company to design and manufacture a fully compliant POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) emulation system for the Iridium Satellite network.
Now one of the leading global manufacturers of Iridium-based satellite communications equipment, Beam offers the widest range of Iridium solutions across all market segments, and is particularly focused on the exploitation of the newly released Iridium data module targeted at asset tracking and other applications. Beam prides itself on its ability to develop broad market applications as well as specific dedicated products and solutions. For more information, please visit www.beamcomm.net.
