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Iridium Provides Low-Cost Satellite E-Mail For Zodiac Ships
Bethesda MD (SPX) Oct 04, 2006 Zodiac Maritime Agencies Ltd., a major international ship management company, has equipped its fleet of 132 ships with an Iridium-based satellite e-mail system supplied by AND Group plc in a move to reduce the rising costs of ship-to-shore communication. The shipboard package includes a Thrane and Thrane Sailor ST4120 transceiver bundled with AND's Rapidomail software. Satellite airtime is being supplied by AND Group in partnership with France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications, an Iridium service provider. The Rapidomail system provides a complete integrated e-mail solution for a ship's business and crew calling. The crew mail service operates on a prepaid platform, using a unique virtual pin technology. Each participating crew member gets a private password protected mailbox. Value-added services include crew shopping, news, weather and sports results. Zodiac's shore-based managers have access to Web-based reporting, allowing live analysis of each ship's usage and mailbox activity, including cost analysis per message. The prepaid crew e-mail service is totally independent of the ship's e-mail traffic, and airtime bills exclude all crew based airtime charges. "The Rapidomail Iridium package provides substantial savings over alternative solutions in both hardware and calling costs," said Ian Robinson, chief operating officer of AND Group plc. "It also supplies a more reliable communication method and a greater range of services. As we develop the software applications in house we are highly flexible and can provide customized solutions tailored to each individual customer's needs" "Zodiac has joined the increasing number of major ship management companies that have switched to Iridium as their primary satellite communication link," said Don Thoma, executive vice president of Iridium Satellite. "Iridium's constellation of 66 cross-linked satellites in low earth orbits, supported by highly professional service partners like AND, provides a unique value proposition to ship owners and managers in terms of global coverage and low calling charges for satellite airtime." Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Iridium Satellite All about the Internet at 40,000 feet Satellite-based Internet technologies
China Leads Next Generation Internet Development
Beijing, China (XNA) Sep 25, 2006China successfully built the core network of its next generation Internet, leading the world in developing a larger, faster and safer Internet that is to dominate the future. The network, namely CNGI-CERNET2/6IX, passed the examination of an expert team organized by the Ministry of Education here Saturday. Experts said the network reached world leading level on the whole with major innovations and will give China a bigger say in the field. |
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