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Globe Wireless in the News

Published Jan 19, 2011 10:52 AM by The Maritime Executive

Globe Wireless announces new services, cutting edge equipment and deals for customers

• Inmarsat Fleet 33 to Iridium OpenPort Upgrade

Palm Bay, Florida, USA (4th May 2009): Today Globe Wireless announced today an Inmarsat Fleet 33 to Iridium OpenPort upgrade program. Customers deactivating a Fleet 33 terminal by September 30, 2009 are eligible to receive a free Iridium OpenPort terminal. “Inmarsat has changed the direction of Fleet 33 with the adjustments to the satellite systems. The original plans to provide a global service for Fleet 33 changed, and the system will remain spot beam,” commented Frank Coles, President & CEO of Globe Wireless. Mr. Coles continued, “More importantly, the cost of data on Fleet 33 using both MPDS and the 9.6Kbps data channel is very expensive. Iridium OpenPort voice is half the cost, and data can be up to one fifth the cost of Fleet 33.”

Iridium OpenPort provides 3 voice lines and a 128Kbps data connection. Three voice calls and data can operate simultaneously. Crew calling services are available 24 hours a day (no Super Quiet Time), and are 50% lower than Inmarsat crew calling rates. The Iridium OpenPort is a much better option for GSM calling and makes the other options such as dual F33 used by some competitors antiquated. Fleet Broadband is also an expensive option for crew services. Mr. Coles added, “Fleet 33 terminals are relatively new, however, the ongoing operating costs of these terminals will result in continuous high monthly communications costs, with severe functional limitations. Iridium OpenPort can greatly reduce costs, and provides a flexible and powerful communications infrastructure to accommodate new requirements.”

The most unique part of the solution is that Globe is offering customers an Unlimited Email Option. By combining Iridium OpenPort and our worldwide Digital HF network, we can offer customers a low fixed monthly price for unlimited email. Combined with Globe’s unparalleled suite of ShipShape applications, worldwide Touch-the-Ship capabilities, and our 24x7 customer support service, Globe Wireless offers the only true vertically integrated solution for the Maritime industry.

• Globe Wireless Completes Testing and Delivers Iridium OpenPort to Maritime Customers

Palm Bay, Florida (4th May 2009): Globe Wireless announced that it has successfully concluded a rigorous testing program for the new Iridium OpenPort maritime satcom system and is delivering units to customers. As the Charter Distribution partner for the Iridium OpenPort service, Globe conducted an extensive independent testing of Iridium OpenPort to verify that the product meets the highest degree of reliability expected by its maritime customers.

“We have given the Iridium OpenPort system a vigorous shakedown,” said Frank Coles, President and CEO of Globe Wireless. Globe Wireless ran Iridium OpenPort through a full battery of performance and environmental tests to confirm Iridium OpenPort ruggedness for the harsh marine environment, including stress testing to verify the robustness during high traffic loading conditions.

“We did this testing to ensure that any equipment we install aboard our customer’s ships would be reliable – we are aware of how difficult it is to re-visit ships to fix defective equipment. As a result, we believe we are able to provide our customers with a reliable, fully tested product,” said Mr. Coles. “The Iridium engineering team has successfully resolved all beta testing and production ramp-up issues. Iridium OpenPort is now well-positioned to provide a cost effective, high-quality service for our customers. We are now moving forward with deliveries of Iridium OpenPort through our direct channels to fulfill the large backlog of orders from our customer around the world.”

Additionally, Globe Wireless has implemented GlobeSecure, its advanced firewall for OpenPort. Mr. Coles explained, “We needed to ensure that our customers were fully protected from high cost exposure through unauthorized browsing. With GlobeSecure, customers can fully control Internet access through OpenPort. Shoreside firewall protection for OpenPort is unique to Globe Wireless – no other Iridium reseller offers this today.”

Mr. Coles also said, “In conjunction with the release for Iridium OpenPort we are releasing the upgrade programs for the older Inmarsat services. This, together with the GlobeMobile GSM solution, is a complete business and crew package for the shipping industry. This is a timely release given market conditions. Our customers will have an enhanced service at a fraction of the cost, and begin to save immediately.”

Iridium OpenPort is the only truly global high-bandwidth marine satellite communication system with coverage over 100 percent of the Earth’s surface, including Polar waters beyond the reach of geostationary satellites. Iridium OpenPort provides an unmatched value proposition of three independent phone lines and a separate scalable data circuit supporting speeds of 9.6 to 128 kilobits per second. The phone circuits and data port can be used simultaneously, and data rates can easily be adjusted up or down without any modifications to hardware or software. The lowprofile, lightweight antenna array does not require a stabilized pedestal and is therefore less costly to purchase, install and maintain.

• Globe Wireless Announces Inmarsat Mini-M to Iridium OpenPort Upgrade

Palm Bay, Florida, USA (4th May 2009): Today Globe Wireless announced a special Inmarsat Mini-M to Iridium OpenPort upgrade program. Customers deactivating an Inmarsat Mini-M terminal by September 30, 2009 are eligible to receive a free Iridium OpenPort terminal.

“A large number of ships continue to use Mini-M terminals for voice and data,” commented Frank Coles, President & CEO of Globe Wireless. “Iridium OpenPort can dramatically reduce costs and improve performance for data connectivity. To put it in perspective, data on Iridium OpenPort is one tenth the cost of Mini-M. Voice calling is nearly half of Mini-M rates.”

Many ship owners have selected Mini-M as an isolated crew calling platform. Mr. Coles explained, “For crew calling users, the Globe Wireless Mini-M Trade-In program makes perfect sense. Iridium OpenPort crew calling is much cheaper than Inmarsat, with these rates available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Further, since Iridium OpenPort also allows three simultaneous phone calls, the crew does not have to queue to use the phone.” Mr. Coles continued, “Following Inmarsat’s recent price change announcements, we believe that this offer is both timely and, more importantly, in the best interest of our customers. Once more we
are using the available technology to provide solutions built to the customers need.”

As a large number of Mini M’s are used for crew calling this is a perfect opportunity to switch to a more cost effective system, with a custom GSM solution and at a fraction of the cost of the Fleet Broadband solutions being offered.

The most unique part of the solution is that Globe is offering customers an Unlimited Email Option. By combining Iridium OpenPort and our worldwide Digital HF network, we can offer customers a low fixed monthly price for unlimited email. Combined with Globe’s unparalleled suite of ShipShape applications, worldwide Touch-the-Ship capabilities, and our 24x7 customer support service, Globe Wireless offers the only true vertically integrated solution for the Maritime industry.

• Globe Wireless Announces GlobeMobile for Iridium OpenPort

Palm Bay, Florida, USA (4th May 2009): Globe Wireless announced the release of GlobeMobile for Iridium OpenPort. Globe Wireless has taken a unique and innovative approach to GSM aboard ships.

Frank Coles, President & CEO of Globe Wireless explained their approach to GSM. “The
GlobeMobile solution is different from competitors because it is not only a GSM system. Instead, our approach has been to find a way to use GSM as an interface method to access ship’s communications systems.”

Mr. Coles continued, “Other GSM systems available today are provided by companies that are affiliated with GSM carriers. As such, their objective is generating minutes on the GSM network – resulting in high voice rates.”

Statistics show that the crew agrees with Globe Wireless’ approach. Ships using Blue Ocean Wireless, a competitive GSM system, have 87% of the usage on SMS text messaging (their figures). Crew have explained that because voice rates are too high, they end up using traditional crew calling instead of GSM.

GlobeMobile uses standard Iridium OpenPort voice lines for phone calls, and as a result the crew pays as low as $0.53/min for both incoming and outgoing calls, with SMS charged at half the rates.

“With GlobeMobile, the crew are provided with the convenience and privacy of GSM voice and SMS, but are not penalized with high GSM network and roaming fees.”, explained Mr. Coles. Iridium OpenPort provides 3 voice lines and a 128Kbps data connection. Three voice calls and data can operate simultaneously. Crew calling services are available 24 hours a day (no Super Quiet Time), and are 50% lower than Inmarsat crew calling rates.

With GlobeMobile for Iridium OpenPort, the ship owner can allocate two lines for the crew and reserve one line for the captain and ships business. Further, ship data can also pass via OpenPort. This results in an overall savings in business communications for the ship. Globe Wireless also offers GlobeMobile for VSAT and Inmarsat Fleet Broadband systems.

• About Globe Wireless:

Globe Wireless is the world's leading provider of total solutions in the field of communications, operational and IT solutions to the maritime industry. Globe Wireless serves over 550 ship operators with over 9,300 ships using its products and services. Globe Wireless designs, builds, sells, installs, supports and services all of the products and services that are offered to customers. Globe has a direct relationship with the customer and is able to "touch the ship" anywhere in the world at anytime.

• For additional information:

Shane Rossbacher
Vice President, Product Management, Globe Wireless
Telephone: +1-321-309-1339 / Email: [email protected]

Frank J. Coles
President & CEO, Globe Wireless / Telephone: +1-321-309-1364 / Email: [email protected]