Speak loudly (and carry a small stick)

Inmarsat’s ‘Maritime Update’ at SMM was clearly for the benefit of partners but there were broader messages too, aimed at bolstering its position against the emerging competition in the maritime space.

Hence Rupert Pearce being invited to point out that Inmarsat was a mere 2.5 times leveraged, significantly less he said than the competition, even though this would rise to 3.5 times as the GX investment really got going.

That was clearly a swipe at more heavily indebted Intelsat which is manoeuvring for an IPO to pay down its weightier debt position. Planning had begun he said for the I-6 satellites and the development of infrastructure was continuing.

There was the by now inevitable Ku-Ka rain fade debate, answered at some length by GX managing director Leo Mondale. His key point however was that ka frequency availability was superior to that of available Ku bandwidth. In this ‘epic battle’ he quipped, the guy with seven times the bandwidth is going to win.

The frequency re-use, scalability and switchable beams in GX could be enough to satisfy surges in demand and whether as he suggested the outcome is really not in doubt we will wait to see but there was no lack of confidence corporately about Inmarsat’s position and its ability to trump its rivals.

As Coles pithily put it, the ‘new’ Inmarsat is about value and average revenue per user ‘rather than dying in a ditch on cost per bit’.

Coles also stressed that Inmarsat was not playing the field in terms of GX partners – seeking to work closely with 8-10 partners. If GX flies then this will seem like a smart move, though its critics would suggest there are fewer companies wanting to dance.

The thorny issue remains Inmarsat direct, its direct sales channel, which is basically competing with its long standing partners – though not for the same customers according to Coles. He said there was zero interest in fighting for the same customers. Neither would the pricing regime favour Inmarsat direct.

Evidence of grumbling by the DPs and SPs doesn’t exactly tally with that and the risk still exists that Inmarsat’s partners grow tired of the beauty contest and go with alternative VSAT solutions – though they must persuade owners to swap out equipment to do that.

Sensing an overweight of hubris, Pearce described Inmarsat as being in ‘listening mode’ and trying extremely hard to conscious of potential conflicts. Coles spoiled the mood of détente slightly by saying that Inmarsat would rely on ‘loyal partners’ and that Inmarsat would not give away direct business where it saw an opportunity.

But if proof were needed of the new mood, it was delivered, not by Inmarsat but by Adonis Violaris, old satcoms hand and now with Bernard Schulte shipmanagement, who stood up to announce a new crew calling contract via a SCAP plan over Inmarsat.

Given that earlier this year, Violaris was calling for Inmarsat to be ‘reported’ to IMO and ICS over the price rises, the podium must have considered this a job well done.