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Ground Control's BGAN coverage from Inmarsat is global. Any BGAN terminal will operate in any country within any of the three coverage areas above with any of Ground Control's BGAN service plans. Also, any BGAN terminal may move to any location and connect with any of the satellites without need to reconfigure the system or need to purchase any different service plan (ideal for world travelers).
 BGAN Coverage Map PDF
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Inmarsat-4 F1 I-4 Asia-Pacific 143.5° east longitude
Inmarsat-4 F2 I-4 Europe, Middle-East, Africa 25° east longitude
Inmarsat-4 F3 I-4 Americas 98° west longitude
Since a BGAN terminal uses the "L" band for reception and transmission (the L band has a very long wavelength), it is able penetrate through clouds and other atmospheric condition far better than its "KU" and "C" Band cousins used by much larger satellite dishes.
The Explorer 300 and Explorer 500 models have shown to work well on a boat at anchor with very limited motion. And while there is ocean coverage,
BGAN terminals are not allowed to be used by moving vessels on the
open ocean and service will suspend. Inmarsat has created the FleetBroadband service for maritime use. FleetBroadband coverage areas are identical to the BGAN coverage areas.
Today there are three BGAN Satellites that give contiguous worldwide coverage. Prior to January 7, 2009, there were only two BGAN satellites that serviced the Americas and Europe/Africa regions (click here see old coverage map). With the successful activation of the third (and newest) satellite on January 7th (which was activated over the Americas) the two existing BGAN satellites were repositioned to better global locations for full world-wide coverage. The first phase of repositioning completed on February 6th with new coverage region for Europe/Africa. The second and final phase happened on February 24, 2009 for the Asia Pacific regions.
For More interesting facts on BGAN, please visit this page.
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