TV MEETS THE WEB-(C)2003 Van Dusseldorp & Partners - http://www.vandusseldorp.com/

A British-based satellite company is proving to be a crucial link in fulfilling both the military's and the media's needs to transmit information to and from Iraq.

According to a report in the Washington Post, Inmarsat has redirected one of its spare satellites to the Middle East region in response to the sudden spike in demand for communication bandwidth. Media executives and many military officials are thought to favour Inmarsat because of its ability to carry voice and large amounts of video data via satellite, with media companies paying around E1.5 a minute for voice communication and E6 per minute to transmit video.

Inmarsat has declined to sign contracts with the media that guarantee access to a satellite, however. Concerns that there may be a shortage of capacity over Iraq have been exacerbated by the country's historic refusal to allow geostationary satellites over the country.

According to industry sources, the Pentagon, meanwhile, has been scrambling to buy access to commercial satellites in order to bolster its own orbiting armada. Military estimates suggest that the satellite capacity needed for new action in Iraq will be ten times greater than in the 1991 Gulf War. ((Distributed via M2 Communications Ltd - http://www.m2.com))