I received the following today from Luis Soltero, the brains behind Xgate from Global Marine Network (GMN), the software which powers Ocens e-mail. Luis is VERY plugged in on marine communiucations, and I trust what he says. For further information, click on the link. --Milt Baker, N4732 Bluewater, landlocked in Fort Lauderdale The unit to watch for is the new Iridium broadband unit. Here is a link to the announcement. http://www.iridiumeverywhere.com/IE_CS.html Although pricing for this unit has not been announced it is expected to sell for considerably less than BGAN hardware. Rumor has it that the price will be in the $5-6K range (don't quote me on that). Data pricing is done by the Mb (like BGAN) and is expected to compete favorably with BGAN. The unit is quite small (smaller than a 24" radar dome) and light. There are no moving parts. Data rates run from 9.6Kb to 156Kb depending on the plan. Power consumption is modest. Iridum air time pricing for the unit is the same as it is for the handsets which ranges from $1-$1.50 per minute. Talk is that air time will only be available as postpaid. The unit is real. I saw it at the Iridium partners conference in Vancouver a few weeks ago. I am very excited about this product. This will be the first broad band product that will be practical price and sizewise on smaller boats. Expected release is summer of 2008...