Furuno to launch FleetBroadband terminals

Furuno Electric has announced that its FleetBroadband terminals, FELCOM500 and FELCOM250 will be scheduled for shipment in the latter half of this year.  

FELCOM500 has been type-approved by Inmarsat, and FELCOM250 will undergo type approval testing shortly.

FELCOM500 (launch scheduled in August 2009) and FELCOM250 (launch scheduled in December 2009) will deliver faster, more cost-effective solutions to maritime broadband data (shared service up to 432 kbps: FB500) and voice communication on a global basis.

Once installed, it will turn a ship into a mobile, broadband floating office where constant, simultaneous access to voice and multiple high-speed data communication is available, a necessary infrastructure for increasing level of both operational and social applications onboard.

There have been growing interests and demands within maritime industry for faster and more reliable broadband communication at sea, as the network infrastructure onshore has become more and more broadband-oriented. Furuno's FELCOM500 and FELCOM250 will serve such needs; navigators can obtain real-time, necessary information from the internet in order to optimise route planning and monitoring tasks, while all onboard can have the benefit of the internet, emailing and VoIP calls to the head offices or their friends and family back home.  

For further information contact: