London-based Inmarsat Ltd., a pioneer provider of global mobile satellite communications, chose Stratos Global Corp. as a possible partner in the commercial launch of its next-generation Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) service.

BGAN service will be provided via a new generation of satellites, known as Inmarsat 4, scheduled for launch in the first quarter of 2005. BGAN will offer near-global coverage for telephony and high-speed data services using small, lightweight satellite terminals that will receive data from the satellites at speeds as fast as 432 Kbps.

Inmarsat and Stratos will work together during the pre-launch period to develop the business, marketing and service aspects of the BGAN technology. Inmarsat plans to provide two options for BGAN service — a background IP option billed by the amount of data sent and received, and a streaming IP option billed by the minute with a guaranteed constant bit rate.