[09-21-07 – Satellite Today] The French Ministry of Defense has selected    Vizada to provide mobile satellite communications to enable military surgeons to transmit images to medical staff in a different site or country, the company announced Sept. 19.

Vizada, formerly France Telecom Mobile Satellite Communications, is using a solution based on Inmarsat’s Broadband Global Area Network  (BGAN) system. The system uses simultaneous IP BGAN links, a 256 kilobit per second (kbps) streaming connection to perform the videoconferencing and relay images from the operating table to the medical staff and a background IP connection with speeds of up to 492 kbps to send medical files, analysis reports, X-rays, photos and scans. The IP traffic is relayed to Vizada’s ground station and leased line to the hospital.