Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) and Inmarsat signed a strategic maritime agreement intended to facilitate the sharing of cargo, logistics and vessel operational data to help streamline the maritime supply chain. The two companies will jointly develop services, solutions and applications to drive industry standards for satellite connectivity and application integration in the maritime industry.
As a first step, Ericsson has signed a distribution contract to offer XpressLink, Inmarsat's combined L-band and Ku-band VSAT network for the maritime market. XpressLink offers an upgrade path to Inmarsat's Fleet Xpress service, powered by the new Global Xpress constellation, when it becomes available in the coming months. The plan is to extend the distribution agreement with Ericsson to Fleet Xpress at that time.
The deal follows an agreement that AT&T (NYSE: T) announced in September involving one of the largest Industrial Internet of Things deployments of its kind. A.P. Moller-Maersk Group, owner of one of the world's largest shipping lines, is working with AT&T to track and monitor the condition of refrigerated containers with perishable goods.
Ericsson and Inmarsat's new strategic relationship also will pave the way for integration between Ericsson's Maritime ICT Cloud and global connectivity delivered over Inmarsat's satellite communications network. Release