MCLEAN, Va., Feb. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) announced today that the Iridium Certus 700 service is commercially available and is providing the fastest L-band speeds in the industry. When first launched in early 2019, Iridium Certus provided L-band upload and download speeds of up to 352 kbps. With the upgrade to Iridium Certus 700, provided at no additional cost to Iridium Certus 350 subscribers, top download speeds have now doubled to up to 704 kbps.  That is more than 270 kbps faster than the top download speed of the closest competitive L-band solution, for the same price per kilobit as Iridium Certus 350.

Unique in the satellite industry, Iridium Certus is the only broadband service that provides truly global, weather-resilient coverage for on-the-move internet and high-quality voice access.   Delivered through small form factor, cost-effective antennas and terminals currently available from Cobham and Thales, Iridium Certus has seen growing adoption by the maritime and land-mobile/connected vehicle markets.

Truly global maritime communications have never been faster, thanks to the Iridium Certus 700 service. Delivered through the Cobham SAILOR 4300 and VesseLINK by Thales satellite terminals, Iridium Certus serves as either a primary ship communications solutions or as a VSAT companion service.  Regardless of a vessel's location at sea, Iridium Certus 700 delivers high-speed L-band connectivity, enhancing ship business applications, IoT services and connected ship communications.  Crew members on board vessels equipped with Iridium Certus terminals can also enjoy faster web surfing and reliable use of smartphone applications such as WhatsApp or WeChat, even in poor weather. 

For the vehicular and land-mobile market, MissionLINK by Thales has been providing railways, first responders, governments and NGOs with comms-on-the-move connectivity regardless of their geography.  While enabling capabilities like positive train control and mobile-office functionality, including internet, email and voice calls, the MissionLINK terminal can also switch from satellite to cellular connectivity as needed to help manage costs. In addition, the faster speeds available can enhance applications such as telemedicine for remote aid workers, command and control or situational awareness updates for militaries, and remote database access or video monitoring for first responders and police. Governments and enterprises can also take advantage of the enhanced speeds for business and operational continuity efforts, ensuring they maintain communications when terrestrial connectivity is unavailable.

"There is nothing on the market today that matches the quality, reliability, speed and global coverage Iridium Certus delivers, and the Iridium Certus 700 upgrade clearly demonstrates this," said Bryan Hartin, executive vice president, Iridium. "Iridium Certus is now the standard when it comes to providing primary maritime or VSAT companion service, and a reliable weather-resilient broadband solution for mobile applications supporting railways, first responders, and any industry regularly working beyond the reach of terrestrial coverage."

With Iridium Certus 700, no new hardware is required for existing users, and the upgrade process is simple. Current subscribers can take advantage of a simple firmware update rolled out through their service provider, while all new terminals will already have Iridium Certus 700 activated. 

"Iridium Certus continues to gain momentum, and we continue to deliver on our promises by providing the fastest L-band speeds in the industry," said Matt Desch, CEO, Iridium. "As we see this increasing adoption, we also look ahead to our coming Iridium Certus midband class of devices currently in development, which opens the door to enhanced capabilities for autonomous systems, remote sensors and a new generation of satellite-powered personal communicators."

Iridium Certus is the company's new technology platform that offers the flexibility to scale device speeds, sizes and power requirements both up and down based on the needs of the end-user.  Made possible by the upgraded Iridium satellite constellation, the Iridium Certus service goes beyond serving solely as a connectivity solution.  It provides a platform for the company's partners to develop specialized broadband, midband and narrowband applications made possible by Iridium's crosslinked L-band network.

https://www.iridium.com/services/iridium-certus/

Iridium Communications Inc. 
Iridium^® is the only mobile voice and data satellite communications network that spans the entire globe. Iridium enables connections between people, organizations and assets to and from anywhere, in real time. Together with its ecosystem of partner companies, Iridium delivers an innovative and rich portfolio of reliable solutions for markets that require truly global communications. In 2019, the company completed a generational upgrade of its satellite network and launched its new specialty broadband service, Iridium Certus^®. Iridium Communications Inc. is headquartered in McLean, Va., U.S.A., and its common stock trades on the Nasdaq Global Select Market under the ticker symbol IRDM. For more information about Iridium products, services and partner solutions, visit www.iridium.com. 

Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not purely historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The Company has based these statements on its current expectations and the information currently available to us. Forward-looking statements in this press release include statements regarding the timing of introduction, capabilities and benefits of products and services enabled by the Iridium constellation, including Iridium Certus midband solutions. Forward-looking statements can be identified by the words "anticipates," "may," "can," "believes," "expects," "projects," "intends," "likely," "will," "to be" and other expressions that are predictions or indicate future events, trends or prospects. These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of Iridium to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, uncertainties regarding the development and functionality of Iridium products and services, and the company's ability to maintain the health, capacity and content of its satellite constellation, as well as general industry and economic conditions, and competitive, legal, governmental and technological factors. Other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those indicated by the forward-looking statements include those factors listed under the caption "Risk Factors" in the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on February 25, 2020, as well as other filings Iridium makes with the SEC from time to time. There is no assurance that Iridium's expectations will be realized. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if Iridium's underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected, estimated or projected. Iridium's forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release, and Iridium undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements.

SOURCE Iridium Communications Inc.