Page 36: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (July 2001)

Satellite Communications

Xantic: New Look, New Name... More Service

Part of the curse of corporate consolidation comes in the combining of or complete re-naming of the new entity. The quandary: maintaining critical market awareness of individ- ual brands while adequately communicating the entirety of the new organization's capabilities. Such was the problem facing the new company comprised of Station 12, Telstra

Global Satellite and SpecTec.

The Netherlands-based Station 12 has been one of the acquisition leaders on the satellite communication fronts, a role that the newly named company — Xantic — promises to continue. "Future consolidation is coming, as margins are (still) very tight, and there is the need to drive volume very high," said Rune Martini, Xantic's vice president of the

Americas and Northern Europe. Previously, Martini was managing director of SpecTec Group's operations in Amer- ica.

Xantic today offers a portfolio of satcom-based solutions that will now include broadband and IT. While the name may be new to the marine market, the company's experience spans more than 90 years, with its heritage traced back to

Scheveningen Radio, a radio telegraphy service that was designed to keep ships' crews in touch with their owners.

The company, by its own estimations, owns 25 percent of the world market in delivering mobile satcom services via the Inmarsat platform. In 2000 it boasted revenue of $250 million, supporting 700 employees and 29 offices world- wide. It was scheduled to open its Houston office on July 1, in order to adequately service its quickly expanding busi- ness in the oil and gas industries in the Gulf of Mexico region.

It provides global service through land earth stations in

Burum, The Netherlands; and Perth, Australia, providing what the company dubs C3AT: Connection, Content, Con- sultancy, Applications and Transaction services for both maritime and broadband oriented businesses. "Total Solution Provider" is a description bandied about by many companies today, from manufacturers of heavy equipment to service providers, but the moniker seems par- ticularly appropriate for Xantic given the depth and breadth of its offerings.

Recent strategic moves include a strategic partnership with Innovative Communications Technologies, Inc. (ICTI), which allows Xantic to take advantage of ICTI's Inmarsat

Capacity Expander (ICE) technology. ICE, in essence, allows for higher capacity and faster speeds. Xantic also introduced a new messaging system dubbed AmosConnect, a system that integrates ship-shore-ship communications into one platform.

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Marine

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Marine antenna

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V I A A

INMARSAT

CHANGING THE WAY WE COMMUNICATE NERR

TELf COMMUNICATIONS to raise the company's growth in rev- enues four-fold in just three years.

All the while, Picasso thought about (the former) Iridium, which at the time was just starting up. The ideas and inno- vations were in place, but many skeptics theorized (as it turns out correctly), that it wouldn't work.

Picasso, however felt otherwise. Ironi- cally, Colussy and his investors contact- ed Picasso, who had by then moved over to Ace*Comm. and invited him to share in their vision for the new Iridium.

While he was more than satisfied during the year-and-a-half that he was with

ACE*Comm, Picasso felt that the invi- tation to lead Iridium was too good to pass up. "The opportunity to make an impact on the world of communications goes beyond anything that I could ever have imagined," he said. "Just the impact that it makes on our civilization alone is unimaginable."

Picasso predicts that within the next couple of years, it will be proven to the world that satellite communications is a great value. The company is already planning to launch seven additional spare satellites in 2002. But, what hap- pens after that? "In three or four years, I would like to bring satcom to areas that had not been serviced previously." Picasso said. "I am confident that we can do that because we don't have to create a new market. The technology is there and we can accom- plish this by melding together new mar- kets with new technology."

Furuno Launches New

Inmarsat B Terminal

Furuno has introduced Felcom 82 - ils highly advanced

Inmarsat B ship- borne terminal for vessels requiring steady, high quali- ty worldwide communication.

The communi- cation unit, which is based on new components, provides an overall range of INM-B communication services, such as high quality two-way duplex telephone (voice). Telex, Telefax, e-mail via Internet as well as Distress and urgency communications. Up to eight additional telephones, as well as PABX, can be connected to the communication unit. The NBDP telex includes a new 10.4-in. TFT color LCD display termi- nal, which also enables interactive view of the communication unit status. A dig- ital interface by IEC 61162 is available for position, heading and other relevant data in addition to L-Band DGPS cor- rection signal output.

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