Inmarsat $1.2B Investment in KA-Band Satellite

Inmarsat (LSE: ISAT), provider of global mobile satellite communications services, announced that it has agreed a contract with The Boeing Company for the delivery of three state-of-the-art 702HP Ka-band satellites.  The Inmarsat-5 constellation will enable Inmarsat to provide a unique global high speed mobile broadband service offering. 

With operations expected to start in 2014, Inmarsat-5 will support a next generation global service, Global Xpress, which will target a $1.4b incremental market opportunity in VSAT services.  Global Xpress will address the established, growing markets for VSAT services in the Maritime, Energy and Government sectors, with further growth potential in developing markets such as the Aeronautical sector.  Global Xpress will deliver global coverage and unprecedented mobile broadband with speeds up to 50MB/s, to customer terminals from 20-60cm in size. 

Inmarsat will target $500m of annual Ka-band revenues 5 years after global service launch. 

Inmarsat estimates that the total cost of Inmarsat-5 and Global Xpress will be $1.2bn over 4.5 years, incorporating the fixed cost of the satellites, as well as the cost of additional ground network infrastructure, product development, launch services and insurance.