Xantic first to offer 9.6 kbit/s fax channel on Inmarsat Fleet 77 and 55

Xantic has become the first company to make the new 9.6 kbit/s fax channel available on Fleet 77 and 55. Its Land Earth Stations in Holland (Burum) and Australia (Perth) have both been upgraded in order to provide global coverage.

Operational in all four Ocean regions, the new service means there is no longer any need to use the slow and relatively expensive 2.4 k fax option on Fleet 77, or an expensive ISDN channel to send G3 faxes. The 9.6 kbit/s fax channel is up to 50 percent cheaper than 2.4 k fax and up to 40 percent cheaper than G3 fax over ISDN.

“Having installed Fleet 77 on 8 of our ships, it would have been better if Inmarsat had made a 9.6 kbit/s fax channel option available from the time Fleet 77 was launched,” says Peter Van de Venne, Director IT at Spliethoff, a Dutch company managing a fleet of 55 multi-purpose vessels ranging in size from 8,000 to 20,000 tons. “However, we are very pleased that the service can now be used – not least because it is leading to significant financial savings.”

With Fleet 33 already being equipped with the 9.6 kbit/s fax (and data!) channel, this latest innovation from Xantic means that the entire range of Inmarsat Fleet services is now provided with a fast fax option.

The Hague, the Netherlands, 5 August 2004

Editor’s note:

About Xantic:
Xantic was formed by the merger between Station 12, Telstra Global Satellite, SpecTec and KPN Broadcast. By combining the knowledge, expertise and skills of four top companies, Xantic has created an unrivalled portfolio of solutions in an area known as CAT: Content, Applications and Transactions.

As a result, Xantic is one of the world’s leading satellite communication providers, offering high level ICT and CAT oriented solutions to all those who work in a business to business environment. Xantic operates two Earth Stations – one in The Netherlands (Burum) and one in Australia (Perth). With offices and agents in more than 29 countries, Xantic provides customers with premium service and quality, wherever they are in the world.

For further information, please contact:

Vera Swan, Communications Manager Xantic
Tel. +31 70 343 2642; email: vera.swan@xantic.net