Vizada, the leading provider of global satellite-based mobility services recently acquired by Astrium, is launching a new addition to its Pharostar maritime VSAT portfolio.

The latest innovation around the cost-effective high speed satellite service has been developed with a view to making maritime VSAT easier to install and more accessible to a wider range of vessels including medium-size transportation, fishing and leisure boats.

With data rates up to 1,5Mbps, Vizada introduces a new range of service plans for Pharostar based on "data allowances" to compliment the traditional "throughput-based" VSAT offering.

Packages start from 5 GBs for an airtime cost of $1,000, with easy top-up options.New 60cm and 80cm compact and reliable Ku-band antennas have been added to the existing 1m antennas choices, and can be delivered pre-assembled for simpler and faster installation time on board.

Pharostar's coverage area is planned to be extended twice this year giving further reach to vessels operating in the South Atlantic and Indian oceans.

The newly designed Pharostar service can be combined with a mobile satellite service (MSS) back-up for full global coverage.

Ghani Behloul, Vizada Chief Marketing Officer, commented: "These additions are the latest components in our strategy to offer the largest choice to the maritime community and to develop the most comprehensive maritime broadband solutions portfolio in the market.

They will allow us to welcome more vessels onto our network and contribute to improve the service for the existing ones.

"A major advantage of the new Pharostar service is that it can be efficiently managed through Vizada XChange, a platform which can be easily installed on board the vessel to interconnect with the corporate network.

Vizada XChange enables the IT manager to seamlessly switch connectivity from VSAT to MSS, ensuring continuous communications as the ship enters or exits the coverage zones. Access to, and management of Vizada Solutions such as anti-virus software and web compression is also handled through Vizada XChange.

Additionally, crew can choose between the full set of prepaid communications options (voice, email, web) while using a single card.