[10-24-07 – Satellite Today] Iridium Satellite will provide services to the New Zealand Ministry of Health, the company announced Oct. 8.

The New Zealand Ministry of Health will rely on Iridium Satellite services to augment land-based telecommunications capabilities and ensure continuity of operations in the event of natural or manmade disasters. New Zealand’s 21 District Health Boards have received 9505A Iridium handsets.

In separate news, Iridum Satellite announced Oct. 23 that its reseller Applied Satellite Technology Australia Pty Ltd. (AST Australia) received a contract to supply the Australian Department of Environment and Conservation West Australian Fire Management Services with a satellite communications system that will provide automatic tracking of 150 fire fighting vehicles using Iridium’s short-burst data service (SBD), as well as voice and data communications using fixed and handheld satellite phones. The system will also provide for automated filing of status and after-action reports to headquarters through the satellite SBD link.

AST Australia will supply a mix of Iridium 9601 SBD transceivers, Iridium 9505A satellite handsets and Beam Communications RST620 satellite voice/data kits.