Thrane & Thrane said it would begin marketing its first Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) terminal next week at the SATELLITE 2005 conference and exhibition, being held in Washington, D.C., March 22-25. The terminal will communicate over Inmarsat’s forthcoming BGAN network. The first satellite of the BGAN network was successfully launched March 11.

The new terminal, named Explorer 500, provides data receipt at rates of up to 432 kilobits per second (kbps) and data transmission rates at up to 372 kbps. The terminal weighs about 2.9 lbs. The company did not offer a price for the unit, but said it would be about one third the price of its existing M4 terminal.

For more information about the SATELLITE 2005 conference and exhibition, please visit us on the Web at http://www.satellite2005.com.