Inmarsat is so focused on BGAN’s imminent introduction that offic...

will start in Europe, Africa and the Middle East in early Dec., he said, with BGAN over the Americas via the just-launched Inmarsat 4 soon to follow. Payload testing of the latest Inmarsat 4 satellite begins next week, Sukawaty said. He pegged Inmarsat financial results as being in line with expectations, reporting 3rd-quarter revenue of $120 million, attributed to maritime and aeronautical sector performance. Revenue from maritime voice services rose over the quarter, offset by discounts, he said. Inmarsat’s aeronautical sector saw traffic rise, too, and on Tues. the firm debuted a new aeronautical venture, SwiftBroadband -- a 432-kbps upgrade of its Swift64 in- flight voice and data service. Inmarsat’s distributors will try to sell the service to private plane owners and airlines, a spokesman said. Land-based MSS traffic was flat in the 2nd quarter, but not the 3rd, officials said, citing the impact of hurricane relief. Land voice revenue still is affected by MSS operators with hand-held offerings, but officials said Inmarsat expects BGAN voice services to address the competition. Inmarsat net operating costs were up 8% from the same period last year to $42.4 million, partially offset by termination of Inmarsat’s Thuraya capacity lease. After taxes, Inmarsat had a 3rd quarter loss of $2.3 million, compared to a loss of $10.4 million for the 3rd quarter of last year, officials said.