[Satellite Today – 06-04-08] Iridium Satellite has seen strong growth in its maritime business, posting double-digit growth in subscriptions and usage, the company said June 3.
    The number of active maritime subscriptions is increasing at a 20 percent annual rate, while airtime for voice and circuit-switched data is up 14 percent over last year. At the end of the first quarter of 2008, crew calling traffic through the Iridium network was up 23 percent over the same period in 2007.
    The operator hopes it to boost its position in the maritime sector still further over the next 12 months. “With the launch of our new Iridium OpenPort optimized bandwidth voice and data service, we are poised to capture an even larger share of the burgeoning market for high-speed data,” Greg Ewert, executive vice president, global distribution channels, said in a statement. “Iridium OpenPort sea trials are underway on a number of ships, and full commercial availability is expected in the third quarter this year.