Satellite communications provider Inmarsat has introduced a new pricing structure for its Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) satellite terminals — BGAN Standard+ — designed to address the needs of irregular users of its services.
According to Inmarsat, the new pricing provides a dynamic structure that caps additional monthly subscription charges at 30GB by taking advantage of unused capacity on its network.
Paul Gudonis, president at Inmarsat Enterprise, says many satellite communications users deploy services in an irregular manner, occasionally having to use services at a much greater scale than usual.
He says BGAN Standard+ pricing addresses these users’ needs by providing the flexibility of a small monthly subscription for 5MB usage, with the capacity to use up to 30GB supplementary data without the unnecessary requirement of needing to contact Inmarsat or the concern of potentially breaching budgets.
{loadposition peter}“BGAN Standard+ pricing for Land was primarily derived from us looking at the market, speaking to partners, and figuring out where we could optimise our offering for the needs of our end customers,” Gudonis says.
“For example, a Humanitarian Aid agency might find itself supporting a response to a crisis in which large volumes of emails and social media posts are required to enable affected population to make contact with their relatives. The price cap of BGAN Standard+ pricing removes any reticence around the potential cost of abruptly surging usage, making spend more predictable at the most unpredictable moments.”
According to Andy Start, president, Inmarsat Global Government, the BGAN Standard+ will also open up new market segments within the global, non-US government market.
“Operational commanders are already keen proponents of Inmarsat satellite communications for mission critical operations because of their capacity to provide increased situational awareness wherever and whenever required. BGAN Standard+ opens up the additional market segments such as Government Welfare, Government Logistics, and eHealth by offering new highly affordable, scalable pricing models with easy to control budgets.”
Inmarsat says both new and existing customers will have access to the new pricing plans – and existing customers will be able to migrate to BGAN Standard+ without incurring any early termination fees, as the transition will be considered an upgrade and, therefore, still within contract.