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Wireless
March
16, 2004
Intelsat, Telespazio bring GSM to
cruise ships
UNITED
STATES -- Intelsat and Telespazio recently signed a
five-year contract to provide satellite capacity for
cellular telephone services that Telecom Italia Mobile
(TIM) will make available to passengers traveling on
Costa Crociere cruise ships in the Mediterranean, Northern
Europe, Caribbean, and South American regions.
Telespazio,
a leader in satellite services, is working with TIM
to offer GSM cellular services, and chose Intelsat to
provide the multi-regional, at-sea connectivity. Through
the satellite gateway at the Fucino Space Center in
Italy, Telespazio would route the GSM traffic from the
satellite maritime network to TIM's public GSM network,
ensuring availability during oceanic navigation. The
Intelsat 907 satellite will provide the capacity for
this solution at the 332.5°E orbital location. This
is Intelsat's recently launched spacecraft, and one
of the most powerful in its global fleet.
Paolo
Binelli, head, networks and multimedia, Telespazio,
said: "Intelsat's network reliability, excellent
support and capability to ensure a large coverage area,
including the middle of the ocean, is a strong reason
behind our long relationship with it. Intelsat's dependable
solution allows Telespazio and TIM to offer thousands
of cruise ship passengers an instant, high-quality communications."
John
Stanton, president, data, carrier and Internet unit,
Intelsat, said: "Intelsat has provided reliable
ship-to-shore communications on which sailors, governments,
cruise ship passengers and others depend for high-quality
communications. Our global network provides seamless
services to customers at sea, on land, and almost anywhere
else. We are pleased to work with Telespazio to provide
this important new network."
Contact:
Intelsat
Tel: +1-202-944-7500
www.intelsat.com
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