We know that some customers like to have a fixed funding model, which means you have to reach your target to get the money or for the funders to have to pay.

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Inmarsat is therefore looking for customers that will continue to have substantial operations outside the reach of wireless and fixed-line phones or where services are expensive and unreliable.

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They have, he points out, many advantages over fixed-line operators with stronger brands and a closer relationship with their customers.

ECONOMIST: Waves of the future