BGAN from Stratos Provides Mountain Connectivity for Fourth Stage of Ray Zahab's World Expedition Series

-- Adventurers and Youth Ambassadors ran marathons in Bolivia's Andes mountains to promote the United Nations' International Year of Chemistry --

BETHESDA, MD, July 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ - Stratos Global, the leading global provider of advanced mobile and fixed-site remote communications solutions, today announced it provided world-renowned adventurer Ray Zahab's "Expedition Bolivia" with Inmarsat BGAN mobile broadband satellite service.

Expedition Bolivia, which was held May 12-24, was the fourth stage of Zahab's impossible2Possible (i2P) World Expedition Series. This stage took place in the Salar de Uyuni, the world's largest salt flat high in the Bolivian Andes. In this expedition, Zahab, four Youth Ambassadors and other adventurers took the i2P Experiential Learning Program to the Salar to illustrate the role that chemistry plays in the region, in honor of the United Nations' International Year of Chemistry (www.chemistry2011.org).

Youth Ambassadors ran an average of a marathon per day for up to one week, a total of more than 200 miles, in a quest to experience Bolivia as few have ever done before. The expedition featured daily experiments that employed the natural elements of the Salar to illustrate the basic principles of chemistry.

The expedition leaders successfully used BGAN from Stratos to broadcast content to their web site http://impossible2possible.com/bolivia/home. They also used the system to maintain contact with their project team, post photos and blog entries, upload videos, and stream live video conferencing into classrooms across North America. The video conferences provided a compelling learning experience to thousands of students. During the expedition, students were able to see and speak with the expedition participants in real time - while learning about the principles of chemistry.

Stratos provided BGAN service to other stages of the World Expedition Series, including Running Tunisia and Siberian Express for Water. Stratos Dashboard, the foundation of The Stratos Advantage value-added services, was used to monitor and control BGAN airtime usage.

"Over the years, BGAN from Stratos has provided us with exceptional broadband connectivity in the harsh Siberian wilderness, the Tunisian desert and now the remote Andes mountains," Zahab said. "I am continually impressed by the system's durability and reliability, which has helped bring our message of education, inspiration and empowerment to millions worldwide."

Stratos President and CEO Jim Parm said, "It is gratifying to provide the critical communications service that helped ensure the safety of the young people and organizers participating in this latest i2P expedition. The ability to stream live video from Bolivia into classrooms thousands of miles away helped bring the principles of chemistry to life for a new generation of students."

Coverage of Expedition Bolivia was featured on CNN, Outside.com and numerous other media outlets.

About BGAN from Stratos
Stratos is one of the world's largest distributors of Inmarsat's BGAN (Broadband Global Area Network) service, a mobile satellite offering that uses portable, lightweight terminals to provide video (guaranteed up to 384 kbps streaming), high-speed data (up to 492 kbps) and voice connectivity anywhere in the world. Since its introduction in late 2005, BGAN from Stratos has been widely adopted by media organizations, military agencies, first responders and professionals in many other industries worldwide. Stratos now boasts more than 15,000 BGAN activations in 185 countries.

Stratos customers fully utilize The Stratos Advantage, a suite of value-added services that help elevate BGAN from Stratos far above baseline offerings. These value-added services, including Stratos Dashboard, provide users with cost control, firewall management, full traffic information, pre-paid facilities, high security options, easy VPN access, messaging services and a full range of IP options. More information on BGAN from Stratos is available at www.thepowerofbgan.com.

About Stratos
Stratos is the world's trusted leader for vital communications. Stratos offers the most powerful and extensive portfolio of remote communications solutions including mobile and fixed satellite and microwave services. More than 20,000 customers use Stratos products and industry-leading value-added services to optimize communications performance. Stratos serves U.S. and international government, military, first responder, NGO, oil and gas, industrial, maritime, aeronautical, enterprise, and media users on seven continents and across the world's oceans. Stratos is a wholly owned subsidiary of Inmarsat plc. For more information, visit www.stratosglobal.com.

SOURCE Stratos Global Corporation