Mobile SatComs Provider Inmarsat to Equip California First Responders with Communications Capabilities for Emergency Scenario Exercise.

First Responders Will Use BGAN Network for Communications and Information Sharing Among Agencies, Officials, Citizens and Community Leaders

WASHINGTON -- Inmarsat (LSE:ISAT), the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications, has announced that it is partnering with northern Californian first responders and community leaders in the Bay area, to provide satellite communications support for Golden Shadow. Golden Shadow is an exercise being held on November 14 to identify the vulnerabilities of communications in a disaster and test the new and enhanced options now available to emergency responders in a crisis situation.

Inmarsat will contribute Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) terminals, its latest high speed data and voice communications service, to what will become the largest ever U.S. test demonstrating how satellite mobile broadband can enhance the ability of community organizations to respond to a disaster.

Launched in the U.S. in 2006 and powered by the most sophisticated constellation of satellites ever to be launched, the BGAN network provides on-demand voice and high-speed data communications across 85% of the world's landmass, which includes the entirety of the continental United States.

The four-hour demonstration, which will run concurrent to a state-wide Golden Guardian homeland security exercise, will focus on providing communications capabilities to local emergency response units as well as San Francisco Bay Area agencies responsible for health care, education and communication action centers in the aftermath of a bio-terrorism incident. Multiple technologies will be deployed and linked together wirelessly to provide disaster managers and local leaders with the ability to maintain communications and situational awareness in a scenario where terrestrial networks are disrupted. BGAN will be the communication link, providing failsafe communications for isolated members of the community and full situational awareness for officials responsible for managing the response.

"Golden Shadow explores the ability of local institutions and community leaders to deploy advanced technology to manage a response from the first moments of a disaster," said Jack Deasy, Inmarsat Director of Civil Government Programs. "Our local partners in San Mateo County have carefully chosen a suite of readily available IT solutions assembled and deployed to put cutting edge technology into the hands of the community leaders who bear a huge part of the burden of the initial response period. BGAN gives those leaders the confidence that they will remain connected even as the disaster unfolds and allows managers to know how to make best use of their response resources in the initial confusing hours of a public emergency."

The exercise will seek to ensure that citizens and emergency responders are communicating and are sharing important information in real time. Responders taking part in the exercise will be equipped with BGAN terminals, which are about one-half the size of standard laptop. They will be given access to network air-time so they can make voice calls, send and receive data and access the Internet where information can be shared centrally.

About Inmarsat

Inmarsat plc (LSE:ISAT) is the leading provider of global mobile satellite communications. Since 1979, Inmarsat has been providing reliable voice and high-speed data communications to governments, enterprises and other organizations, with a range of services that can be used on land, at sea or in the air. The company's services are delivered through a global network of more than 500 distribution partners and service providers operating in 180 countries. For the year ended 31 December 2006, Inmarsat plc had total revenue of US$500.1 million. More information can be found at www.inmarsat.com.