AST’s exclusive Optima Package, will offer no upfront cost, flexible Iridium Certus airtime plans and inclusive hardware terminals. The unique package from AST, designed to deliver outstanding value, will enable a wide range of both Land and Maritime customers to adopt the Iridium Certus service, benefitting from brand new hardware, the fastest L-Band data speeds and truly global coverage – all for one single fixed monthly fee.

AST’s market-leading “Optima Package” offers much more than the Iridium Certus service alone. It also includes INTEGRA Control, the only real-time data management solution on the market; IRIS, their award-winning remote monitoring solution, and access to their highly experienced 24/7 manned Global Customer Support Team.

Gregory Darling, Group Managing Director, said: “A little over a year ago, AST made the first commercial call over the Iridium Certus network and since then we have successfully activated hundreds of services for customers around the world. With the launch of our unique Optima Package and with Iridium Certus due to become the fastest L-Band service ever available, we believe that many more customers will be in a position to adopt Iridium Certus as their service of choice.” He added, “AST is also proud to have been chosen by Iridium as one of a few GMDSS launch partners.”

The new GMDSS service planned to go live in the first half of 2020 will provide truly global satellite GMDSS service to mariners and offer a new choice in satellite network and equipment. The addition of Iridium as a GMDSS provider will extend the coverage of this service to 100 percent of the planet’s waterways, including the dangerous A4 regions (Arctic and Antarctic) for the first time. In the future, Iridium Certus will be all that is required on-board to meet global maritime safety standards.