Rydex Industries Corp claims to be the first company to support and operate on all channels of the Inmarsat satellite network as well as the MSAT satellite and the GSM mobile communications standard.
The company, which has completed testing and installation on a vessel, can support the Inmarsat B voice, data and high-speed data (HSD) channels.
Five megabytes of data were sent in under three minutes in field tests using Rydex's software and satellite protocol on the digital HSD channel on Inmarsat B.
Rydex president Captain Frank Coles said Rydex was the best system available to shipowners and claimed it was 'years ahead of the competition'.
The lowering of prices on Inmarsat would make the HSD channel a viable and effective medium for the shipping industry, he said. Shipowners could make savings and improve operating efficiency with Rydex systems.
'If shipowners purchase a less capable system they will be faced with upgrading within two years,' Mr Coles said.