Stratos Successfully Deploys FleetBroadband for the Royal Netherlands Navy

Bethesda, Maryland, (September 2, 2008)

Bethesda, Maryland (September 2, 2008) - Stratos Global Corporation, the leading global provider of advanced mobile and fixed-site remote communications solutions, today announced it has successfully completed a FleetBroadband field trial with its long-standing customer, the Royal Netherlands Navy (RNLN).

The successful trial led to the RNLN's purchase of the FleetBroadband from Stratos service, which it will use to manage its daily operations at sea. RNLN is the first organization to commercially deploy the FleetBroadband service.

The three-month field trial was conducted onboard the RNLN Van Kinsbergen in Western European waters, including the Western Baltic. Radio Holland managed the installation of a Thrane & Thrane SAILOR 500 FleetBroadband terminal onboard the vessel. FleetBroadband also was successfully integrated with AmosConnect to manage all email traffic. Other applications successfully tested during the trial included web browsing, instant messaging, video chat, digital faxing via eFax, and weather forecasting via MeteoConsult's SPOS.

"The field trial of FleetBroadband from Stratos provided the ideal opportunity to evaluate the benefits of this new high-performance service in a wide variety of deep-water conditions," said Lieutenant (RNLN) Stefjan Veenstra, commanding officer of the Van Kinsbergen. "We determined that the service was so easy to deploy that our crew could install it themselves. We found the overall performance of the service to be very good. We expect our enhanced e-mail and web-browsing capabilities will help elevate the quality of our education, training and crew communications to new levels."

The successful RNLN field trial was the first in an extensive series of trials that Stratos is conducting to secure feedback from ship managers on FleetBroadband from Stratos and its wide range of value-added services. The trial program encompasses all major geographic regions and vessel types, to ensure that all customer demands are anticipated and met in a timely manner.

Stratos offers a wide range of value-added services to provide ship managers with optimal communications performance, management control and cost efficiency. Stratos is the largest supplier of mobile satellite services to the maritime industry, with communications to more than 40,000 maritime terminals worldwide. In addition to FleetBroadband, Stratos' industry-leading portfolio of maritime broadband satellite services includes the VSAT solutions OceanVSAT and StratosITek and the soon-to-be-released Iridium OpenPort.

Stratos President and CEO Jim Parm said, "With FleetBroadband, we have begun to fulfill significant market demand for a solution that provides optimal performance, along with cost efficiency and first-rate security and support. The first commercial deployment of FleetBroadband with RNLN reinforces our status as the preferred source for the industry's most extensive portfolio of maritime communications and value-added services."

FleetBroadband from Stratos provides cost-effective, high-speed data and voice communications - available simultaneously - at speeds up to 432kpbs. FleetBroadband from Stratos also provides on-demand guaranteed IP data rates, regardless of the vessel's location. The above-deck, stabilized, compact directional antennas are smaller than most existing Inmarsat Fleet products used today.

FleetBroadband from Stratos also helps Stratos continue to provide ship managers with innovative crew-communications solutions, to support the recruitment and retention of well-trained seafarers. For example, FleetBroadband from Stratos soon will be available with a pre-paid web-browsing solution and other valuable services.

Communications managers will find that FleetBroadband from Stratos can be rapidly deployed across an entire fleet and, as a standard IP service, seamlessly integrated with head-office networks. Terminals operate globally and the user interface is standard across all products. FleetBroadband from Stratos supports any IP service, as well as traditional circuit-switched voice and ISDN data for legacy applications. Terminal costs are relatively low and the network supports all the latest security protocols.

FleetBroadband from Stratos Features the Stratos Advantage

With the benefit of the Stratos Advantage, FleetBroadband from Stratos is elevated far above baseline FleetBroadband services. The value-added services comprising the Stratos Advantage provide users with cost and traffic control, high-usage metering, firewall management, data optimization, real-time traffic overviews, instant remote provisioning, high security options, easy VPN access, messaging services and a full IP range. More than 8,000 mobile users in 180 countries already utilize the Stratos Advantage for BGAN. The Stratos Advantage is now fully available for FleetBroadband. Customers utilizing FleetBroadband from Stratos have already begun taking full advantage of this new maritime offering.

In addition to offering the Stratos Advantage, Stratos works with application partners to deliver broadband business solutions in key maritime business areas. These solutions include voyage management, remote management, IT management and cargo management, which help reduce fuel and operations costs and improve crew and customer satisfaction.

Maritime customers can secure more information on FleetBroadband from Stratos by calling their Stratos account manager or by visiting www.thepowerofmobilebroadband.com.