[8-28-07 – Satellite News Today] The state of Louisiana has completed deployment of a Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) supplied by Stratos Global Corp., the company announced Aug. 28.

The network will support statewide emergency communication applications and includes roof-mounted satellite antennas and portable Inmarsat BGAN units for continuity of operations and field personnel deployment.

Simultaneous voice and high-speed data services are critical for agencies and allow for voice contact with command centers and for direct access to incident management systems when terrestrial and wireless systems are not accessible. Stratos is the largest distributor of BGAN services, which can provide connectivity speeds of up to 492 kilobits per second.