. for the intergovernmental organization formerly known as inmarsat see international mobile satellite organization . inmarsat plc type public company traded as lse isat industry satellite communication founded 1979 ; 37 years ago 1979 headquarters london england uk key people andrew sukawaty chairman ; rupert pearce ceo revenue us 1 274.1 million 2015 1 operating income us 426.4 million 2015 1 net income us 282.0 million 2015 1 website www.inmarsat.com inmarsat 3 satellite inmarsat satellite telephone in use after a natural disaster in nias indonesia . the unit depicted was manufactured by thrane & thrane a s of denmark . april 2005 inmarsat plc lse isat is a british satellite telecommunications company offering global mobile services . it provides telephone and data services to users worldwide via portable or mobile terminals which communicate with ground stations through twelve geostationary telecommunications satellites . inmarsat s network provides communications services to a range of governments aid agencies media outlets and businesses with a need to communicate in remote regions or where there is no reliable terrestrial network . the company is listed on the london stock exchange is a constituent of the ftse 250 index and a financial as well as technical sponsor of t l coms sans fronti res . contents 1 history 1.1 origins 1.2 privatisation 1.3 malaysia airlines flight 370 2 operations 3 coverage 4 satellites 5 country codes 6 networks 6.1 advanced services 6.2 m2m communications 6.3 global voice services 6.3.1 existing and evolved services 7 new projects underway 7.1 global xpress 7.2 europasat inmarsat s foray into s band mobile services 7.3 alphasat for extended l band services 8 issues 9 see also 10 references 11 external links history edit origins edit further information international mobile satellite organization the present company originates from the international maritime satellite organization inmarsat a non profit intergovernmental organization established in 1979 at the behest of the international maritime organization imo the united nations maritime body and pursuant to the convention on the international maritime satellite organization signed by 28 countries in 1976 . 2 3 the organisation was created to establish and operate a satellite communications network for the maritime community . 2 4 in coordination with the international civil aviation organization in the 1980s the convention governing inmarsat was amended to include improvements to aeronautical communications notably for public safety . 2 the member states owned varying shares of the operational business . 3 the main offices were originally located in the euston tower euston road london . 5 privatisation edit in the mid 1990s many member states were unwilling to invest in improvements to inmarsat s network especially owing to the competitive nature of the satellite communications industry while many recognized the need to maintain the organization s older systems and the need for an intergovernmental organization to oversee public safety aspects of satellite communication networks . 3 in 1998 an agreement was reached to modify inmarsat s mission as an intergovernmental organization and separate and privatize the organization s operational business with public safety obligations attached to the sale . 3 in april 1999 inmarsat was succeeded by the international mobile satellite organization imso as an intergovernmental regulatory body for satellite communications while inmarsat s operational unit was separated and became the uk based company inmarsat ltd. 2 6 the imso and inmarsat ltd. signed an agreement imposing public safety obligations on the new company . 2 inmarsat was the first international satellite organization that was privatized . 3 in 2005 apax partners and permira bought shares in the company . the company was also first listed on the london stock exchange in that year . 7 in march 2008 it was disclosed that u.s. hedge fund harbinger capital owned 28 % of the company . 8 in 2009 inmarsat completed the acquisition of satellite communications provider stratos global corporation stratos 9 and acquired a 19 percent stake in skywave mobile communications inc. a provider of inmarsat d isatm2m network services which in turn purchased the globalwave business from transcore . 10 inmarsat won the 2010 macrobert award for its broadband global area network bgan service . 11 12 malaysia airlines flight 370 edit further information analysis of malaysia airlines flight 370 satellite communications in march 2014 malaysia airlines flight 370 disappeared with 239 passengers and crew en route from kuala lumpur to beijing . after turning away from its planned path and disappearing from radar coverage the aircraft s satellite data unit remained in contact with inmarsat s ground station in perth via the ior satellite . the aircraft used inmarsat s classic aero service which does not provide explicit information about the aircraft s location . analysis of these communications by inmarsat and independently by other agencies determined that the aircraft flew into the southern indian ocean and was used to guide the search for the aircraft . 13 14 operations edit the inmarsat head office is at old street roundabout in the london borough of islington . 15 aside from its commercial services inmarsat provides global maritime distress and safety services gmdss to ships and aircraft at no charge as a public service . 16 services include traditional voice calls low level data tracking systems and high speed internet and other data services as well as distress and safety services . the most recent of these provides gprs type services at up to 492 kbit s via the broadband global area network bgan ip satellite modem the size of a notebook computer . 17 other services provide mobile integrated services digital network isdn services used by the media for live reporting on world events via videophone . 18 the price of a call via inmarsat has now dropped to a level where they are comparable to and in many cases lower than international roaming costs or hotel phone calls . voice call charges are the same for any location in the world where the service is used . tariffs for calls to inmarsat country codes vary depending on the country in which they are placed . inmarsat primarily uses country code 870 see below . 19 newer inmarsat services use an ip technology that features an always on capability where the users are only charged for the amount of data they send and receive rather than the length of time they are connected . 20 the first f1 and second f2 of inmarsat s most recent series of satellites known as the i4 satellites were launched in june and november 2005 . the third and final satellite f3 was launched from the baikonur cosmodrome in kazakhstan on the 18 august 2008 . 21 in addition to its own satellites inmarsat has a collaboration agreement with aces regarding handheld voice services . 22 coverage edit inmarsat global hq at 99 city road london . january 2006 there are three types of coverage related to each inmarsat i 4 satellite . 23 global beam coverage each satellite is equipped with a single global beam that covers up to one third of the earth s surface apart from the poles . overall global beam coverage extends from latitudes of 82 to 82 degrees regardless of longitude . regional spot beam coverage each regional beam covers a fraction of the area covered by a global beam but collectively all of the regional beams offer virtually the same coverage as the global beams . use of regional beams allow user terminals also called mobile earth stations to operate with significantly smaller antennas . regional beams were introduced with the i 3 satellites . each i 3 satellite provides four to six spot beams ; each i 4 satellite provides 19 regional beams . narrow spot beam coverage narrow beams are offered by the three inmarsat 4 satellites . narrow beams vary in size tend to be several hundred kilometers across . the narrow beams while much smaller than the global or regional beams are far more numerous and hence offer the same global coverage . narrow spot beams allow yet smaller antennas and much higher data rates . they form the backbone of inmarsat s handheld gsps and broadband services bgan . this coverage was introduced with the i 4 satellites . each i 4 satellite provides around 200 narrow spot beams . satellites edit satellite coverage longitude 24 vehicles launch date gmt services notes marisat series marisat f1 delta 2914 19 february 1976 marisat f2 delta 2914 14 october 1976 transferred to intelsat in 2004 decommissioned in 2008 marisat f3 delta 2914 10 june 1976 marecs series marecs 1 ariane 1 20 december 1981 marecs b ariane 1 9 september 1982 launch failure marecs 2 ariane 3 10 november 1984 inmarsat 2 series inmarsat 2 f1 delta ii 6925 30 october 1990 decommissioned 19 april 2013 previous record holder for mission lifespan 25 inmarsat 2 f2 por 143 east delta ii 6925 8 march 1991 decommissioned dec 2014 world record for mission lifespan 25 inmarsat 2 f3 ariane 44l 16 december 1991 decommissioned 2006 inmarsat 2 f4 ariane 44l 15 april 1992 decommissioned 2012 inmarsat 3 series inmarsat 3 f1 ior 64.5 east atlas iia 3 april 1996 existing and evolved services only inmarsat 3 f2 aor e 15.5 west proton k dm1 6 september 1996 existing and evolved services only inmarsat 3 f3 por 178.2 east atlas iia 18 december 1996 existing and evolved services only inmarsat 3 f4 aor w 54 west ariane 44l 3 june 1997 existing and evolved services only inmarsat 3 f5 i 3 europe middle east africa 24.6 east ariane 44lp 4 february 1998 various leases inmarsat 4 series inmarsat 4 f1 26 i 4 asia pacific 143.5 east atlas v 431 11 march 2005 bgan family sps and lease services inmarsat 4 f2 27 i 4 europe middle east africa 64.4 east zenit 3sl 8 november 2005 bgan family sps and lease services transferred from 25 east to 63 east in mid 2015 28 inmarsat 4 f3 29 i 4 americas 98 west proton m briz m 18 august 2008 bgan family and lease services inmarsat 4a f4 30 i 4 europe middle east africa 24.8 east ariane 5eca 25 july 2013 bgan family sps and lease services inmarsat 5 series inmarsat 5 f1 31 32 i 5 europe middle east africa 62.6 east proton m briz m 8 december 2013 ka band global data services global xpress inmarsat 5 f2 33 i 5 americas 55 west proton m briz m 2 february 2015 ka band global data services global xpress inmarsat 5 f3 34 i 5 pacific asia west americas 179.6 east proton m briz m 28 august 2015 ka band global data services global xpress inmarsat 5 f4 35 falcon heavy 2017 planned ka band global data services global xpress country codes edit the permanent telephone country code for calling inmarsat destinations is 19 870 snac single network access code the 870 number is an automatic locator ; it is not necessary to know to which satellite the destination inmarsat terminal is logged in . snac is now usable by all inmarsat services . country codes phased out on 31 december 2008 were 871 atlantic ocean region east aor e 872 pacific ocean region por 873 indian ocean region ior 874 atlantic ocean region west aor w the other four country codes corresponded to the areas that inmarsat satellites cover normally one satellite per area . these areas were commonly called ocean regions . with the advent of snac on 870 the older country codes were no longer needed . they were formally phased out on 31 december 2008 but may still be routed by some regional carriers . networks edit inmarsat 3 satellite locations inmarsat has developed a series of networks providing certain sets of services most networks support multiple services . they are grouped into two sets existing and evolved services and advanced services . existing and evolved services are offered through land earth stations which are not