New generation broadband solutions find great potential in maritime satellite communications markets, according to industry experts. Mobile satellite services (MSS) broadband solutions, especially those in the lower price range, have shown great prospects. The market has grown at around 120 percent per year over the last two years.

Iridium (News - Alert) Communications’ satellite communications network connects people, organizations and assets to and from anywhere in real time.

Recently the company announced the launch of a new maritime broadband platform named Iridium Pilot powered by the Iridium OpenPort service, which the company claims as the first fully global maritime broadband service.

Iridium Pilot further emphasizes the company’s long-term commitment to investment and innovation. With this platform, the company hopes to improve customer experience in new and existing markets in the farthest reaches of the world.    

Featuring a fixed, electronically-steerable, phased-array antenna, Iridium Pilot is designed to withstand harsh maritime conditions. The lightweight and compact design makes it ideal for typical maritime applications.

The broadband platform simultaneously offers broadband connectivity as well as three independent phone lines. Offering data speeds up to 134 kbps, the platform is designed to optimize vessel communications.

Iridium Pilot delivers advanced capabilities including a built-in firewall for traffic management and a bulk configuration capability to efficiently manage large volume of data. The solution is ideal for both small and large vessels- thanks to its flexible service packages and small form factor.

Richard Roithner, senior consultant at Euroconsult said the growth of maritime broadband solutions will continue in the coming years as these systems provide an attractive value proposition for low- and medium-end markets, including fishing, shipping and leisure vessels, to provide safety communications, enhance ship operations, improve crew welfare as well as provide complementary services for VSAT.

According to Roithner, broadband solutions which are capable of delivering data rates of around 128 kbps are sufficient for the majority of maritime applications.  

A significant feature of Iridium Pilot is that it is compatible with Iridium's next generation satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT, which is scheduled for deployment starting 2015.

Iridium NEXT, according to company officials, is the largest commercial space program underway today.  

“Ship operators installing Iridium Pilot can have the confidence that their equipment will be supported well beyond 2020,” said Joel Thompson, vice president, product management, Iridium, in a statement.

Recently Iridium announced it has signed collaboration agreements with five new value-added partners in order to market its data solutions for the mobile machine-to-machine (M2M) sector.