Inmarsat
Inmarsat is a British satellite telecommunications company, offering global mobile services. It provides telephone and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate with ground stations through fifteen geostationary telecommunications satellites.
Inmarsat's network provides communications services to a range of governments, aid agencies, media outlets and businesses with a need to communicate in remote regions or where there is no reliable terrestrial network. The company was listed on the London Stock Exchange until it was acquired by Connect Bidco, a consortium consisting of Apax Partners, Warburg Pincus, the CPP Investment Board and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, in December 2019.
On 8 November 2021, Inmarsat's owners and Viasat announced the purchase of Inmarsat by Viasat. The acquisition was completed in May 2023.
History
Origins
The present company originates from the International Maritime Satellite Organization, a non-profit intergovernmental organisation established in 1979 at the behest of the International Maritime Organization —the United Nations maritime body—and pursuant to the Convention on the International Maritime Satellite Organization, signed by 28 countries in 1976. The organisation was created to establish and operate a satellite communications network for the maritime community. In coordination with the International Civil Aviation Organization in the 1980s, the convention governing INMARSAT was amended to include improvements to aeronautical communications, notably for public safety. The member states owned varying shares of the operational business. The main offices were originally located at Euston Tower, Euston Road, London.Privatization
In the mid-1990s, many member states were unwilling to invest in improvements to INMARSAT's network, especially owing to the competitive nature of the satellite communications industry, while many recognised the need to maintain the organisation's older systems and the need for an intergovernmental organisation to oversee public safety aspects of satellite communication networks. In 1998, an agreement was reached to modify INMARSAT's mission as an intergovernmental organisation and separate and privatise the organisation's operational business, with public safety obligations attached to the sale.In April 1999 INMARSAT was succeeded by the International Mobile Satellite Organization as an intergovernmental regulatory body for satellite communications, while INMARSAT's operational unit was separated and became the UK-based company Inmarsat Ltd. The IMSO and Inmarsat Ltd. signed an agreement imposing public safety obligations on the new company. Inmarsat was the first international satellite organisation that was privatised.
In 2005, Apax Partners and Permira bought shares in the company. The company was also first listed on the London Stock Exchange in that year. In March 2008, it was disclosed that U.S. hedge fund Harbinger Capital owned 28% of the company. In 2009, Inmarsat completed the acquisition of satellite communications provider Stratos Global Corporation and acquired a 19-per cent stake in SkyWave Mobile Communications Inc., a provider of Inmarsat D+/IsatM2M network services which in turn purchased the GlobalWave business from TransCore. Inmarsat won the 2010 MacRobert Award for its Broadband Global Area Network service.
Inmarsat at first provided services using Marisat and MARECS, which were launched by the US Navy and ESA respectively. In the early 1990s Inmarsat launched its first dedicated satellite constellation, Inmarsat-2. These satellites provided the Inmarsat-A service for maritime uses. Between 1996 and 1998 Inmarsat's second constellation, Inmarsat-3, was launched. Consisting of five geostationary L-band satellites the constellation provides the Inmarsat-B and Inmarsat-C services, primarily providing low bandwidth communications and safety services for global shipping. Following privatisation in 1999 Inmarsat developed and launched the first satellite communications system offering global coverage, BGAN. This service was provided initially through the three Inmarsat-4 satellite launched between 2005 and 2008, and was then extended with the addition of Alphasat in 2013. In the 2010s, Inmarsat began development of the High Throughput Satellite constellation Global Xpress, operating in the Ka-band portion of the spectrum. Global Xpress, launched in 2015, offers global satellite capacity to various markets including shipping and aviation. Global Xpress also marks a significant expansion of Inmarsat's commercial operations in the aviation markets. In 2017, Inmarsat launched its first S-band satellite, intended to provide inflight internet access across Europe. In March 2018, Inmarsat partnered with Isotropic Systems to develop a state-of-the-art, all electronic scanning antenna intended to be used with the Global Xpress network.
On 20 September 2018 Inmarsat announced its strategic collaboration with Panasonic Avionics Corporation for an initial ten-year period, to provide in-flight broadband for commercial airlines. Inmarsat will be the exclusive provider of Panasonic for connectivity using the Ka-band satellite signal. Inmarsat will now be offering Panasonic's portfolio of services to its commercial aviation customers.
Takeover by Connect Bidco and privatisation
In March 2019 the company's board agreed to recommend a takeover offer of US$3.4 billion from Connect Bidco, a consortium consisting of Apax Partners, Warburg Pincus, the CPP Investment Board and the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan. On 9 October 2019, Bloomberg reported that the UK government was set to approve the takeover with the final consultation for the deal set to conclude on 24 October 2019. In November 2019, Inmarsat rejected an eleventh-hour effort to derail the US$6 billion sale, in which it was accused of ignoring a potential boost to the company's value. Oaktree argued that the recommended offer for Inmarsat failed to take account of the potential value of spectrum assets used by Inmarsat's U.S. partner Ligado. Inmarsat delisted from London Stock Exchange, as the private equity funds took control of the company, on 5 December 2019; at the time, Inmarsat was operating 14 geostationary communications satellites.Acquisition by Viasat
On 8 November 2021 a $7.3bn deal was announced between Inmarsat's owners, led by Apax and Warburg Pincus, and Viasat in which Viasat would purchase Inmarsat for $850m in cash, issuing approximately 46 million shares of Viasat stock and taking on $3.4bn in debt. Viasat has promised to honour a pledge made by the previous owners, when it was taken private in 2019, that Inmarsat would remain a UK-based company, and for other planned investments.Provisional approval for the merger was given by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority in March 2023 with 25 May 2023 set as the date for a formal decision. On 31 May 2023, the acquisition was closed.
Operations
The Inmarsat head office is at Old Street Roundabout in the London Borough of Islington. Aside from its commercial services, Inmarsat provides Global Maritime Distress and Safety System to ships and aircraft at no charge, as a public service.Services include traditional voice calls, low-level data tracking systems, and high-speed Internet and other data services as well as distress and safety services. The Broadband Global Area Network network provides General Packet Radio Service – type services at up to 800 kbit/s at a latency of 900–1100 ms via an Internet Protocol satellite modem the size of a notebook computer, while the Global Xpress network offers up to 50 Mbit/s at a latency of 700 ms via antennas as small as 60 cm. Other services provide mobile Integrated Services Digital Network services used by the media for live reporting on world events via videophone, and inflight Internet access via the European Aviation Network.
The price of a call via Inmarsat has now dropped to a level where they are comparable to, and in many cases lower than, international roaming costs, or hotel phone calls. Voice call charges are the same for any location in the world where the service is used. Tariffs for calls to Inmarsat country codes vary, depending on the country in which they are placed. Inmarsat primarily uses country code 870. Newer Inmarsat services use an IP technology that features an always-on capability where the users are only charged for the amount of data they send and receive, rather than the length of time they are connected. In addition to its own satellites, Inmarsat has a collaboration agreement with ACeS regarding handheld voice services.