The agreement signed by the two companies defines the new product development initiative for which Beam Communications, a wholly-owned subsidiary of World Reach Limited, will be the primary contractor and Original Equipment Manufacturer.
“Beam was appointed a Value Added Manufacturer ten years ago and since this time has developed a strategic range of Iridium based accessories and terminals for the Iridium satellite network,” commented Joel Thompson, vice president product line management at Iridium Communications.
“This new initiative however is the first of its kind whereby Iridium is directly utilising Beam’s engineering and manufacturing expertise to design, develop and manufacture a new dedicated Iridium product.”
The companies say that, for commercial reasons, the exact details of the product being designed and manufactured cannot be disclosed at this time, however it has been revealed that an initial order commitment for the new product is expected to produce incremental sales revenues exceeding AU$3 million in the first 12 months of commercial sale.
The prospective launch of the product is scheduled for the second half of 2013.