We are writing to inform you of Inmarsat’s decision to accelerate the introduction of their Inmarsat‑6 F1 satellite across the East Asia and Pacific region which means you or your customers will need to take some action to repoint BGAN Fixed Land Terminals to ensure service continuity from their current terminal location.
Inmarsat are now planning for services to begin migrating from I‑4 F2 (MEAS) to I‑6 F1.
Following the completion of service migration from I‑4 F2 (MEAS) to I‑6 F1, I‑4 F2 (MEAS) will be relocated to APAC: restoring full capability and resilience in that region. This decision follows the 16 April 2023 outage on Inmarsat’s I‑4 F1 (APAC) satellite, which provides L‑band safety and other services over the region. While Inmarsat had restored most services by 18 April, others are still affected. With this in mind, to continue to deliver the level of service customers expect, Inmarsat will now accelerate the introduction of I‑6 F1.
Target dates and milestone as below (all 2023)June
Service migration has already started to move from I‑4 F2 (MEAS) to I‑6 F1
July
Introduction of BGAN on I‑6 F1, with mirgration of services from I‑4 F2 (MEAS) to I‑6 F1Performance improvement and capacity upgrades for BGAN, SwiftBroadband and FleetBroadband services in various locations across the region.
Q4 2023
Additional capacity for BGAN, SwiftBroadband and FleetBroadband for additional regions in the footprint.Full global service recovery for Classic Aero / SwiftBroadband Co-operative mode terminals.Additional capacity for global IsatPhone (GSPS) service.All services on I‑4 F1 (APAC) will transition to I‑4 F2 (MEAS) after its relocation from EMEA to APAC region during September – October.
ACTION(S) REQUIRED BY YOUTerminal repointing – Currently pointing at I‑4 F1 (APAC) and still experiencing an outage BGAN Land Terminals currently not receiving signal that are pointing at I‑4 F1 (APAC) can take one of the three following actions:
You can wait until I‑6 F1 comes into service in early July and re-point the antennas still impacted to restore service. You will need to undertake a firmware update before you can repoint. Firmware will be released shortly, and when available, this will be shared with customers along with information and instructions.You can wait until I‑4 F2 (MEAS) takes the previously held position of I‑4 F1 (APAC) which will restore service in this area without the manual re-point requirement. This is planned to be completed by Q4 2023.You can choose to manually re-point your terminals now from I‑4 F1 (APAC) to I‑4 F2 (MEAS) to ensure service continuity. This can be done immediately, however, I‑4 F2 (MEAS) is only available until Mid- August 2023, and will require you to re-point a second time when I‑6 F1 comes into service.
Terminal repointing – Currently pointing at I‑4 F2 (MEAS); needs to re-point before mid-August 2023 Terminals currently pointing at I‑4 F2 (MEAS) can either re-point to Alphasat or I‑6 F1 dependent on location.
If the terminal can re-point to Alphasat from I‑4 F2 (MEAS)
Terminals that can re-point their antenna to Alphasat should do so as soon as possible. This activity can be carried out immediately and should be completed before 18 August 2023 to ensure service continuity.
Please note, this option is not available for those terminals still impacted by the I‑4 F1 (APAC) outage.
If the terminal cannot re-point to Alphasat (I‑4 F4).
Firstly, we require you to update the Firmware on your terminals. This can be done remotely prior to the re-point. Information to help you do this will be provided in due course when available from the manufacturers.
If re-pointing the antenna from I‑4 F2 (MEAS) to Alphasat (I‑4 F4) is impossible because of geographical location or for any other reason such as obstruction, then you will need to re-point to I‑6 F1 once it comes into service but before I‑4 F2 (MEAS) starts to drift, to ensure service continuity.
If the terminal cannot re-point to either Alphasat (I‑4 F4) or I‑6 F1
If the terminal cannot repoint to either Alphasat (I‑4 F4) or I‑6 F1, then unfortunately you will lose service continuity until I‑4 F2 (MEAS) reaches its new location in Q4 2023, and you can then point to this. This scenario should be applicable to a very small minority of the terminals in scope for this change.
This window of opportunity to re-point to ensure service continuity will be from 20 July 2023 until 18 August 2023. We understand that you may be disappointed by the interruption and Inmarsat apologise for the disruption. We will continue to work with you provide updated information on progress on this accelerated programme of work as and when it is made available to us.
We thank you in advance for your co-operation and apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
