The Parrot Bebop drone has been certified to use for streaming live media through the network of Inmarsat, a provider of global mobile satellite communications services.
Approved under Inmarsat's certified application partner program, the lightweight, portable Parrot Bebop will stream media over BGAN and BGAN HDR, Inmarsat’s global 3G IP streaming services. This will enable aerial footage to be broadcast from anywhere in the world, says Inmarsat.
Inmarset, which is headquartered in London and operates in over 60 international locations, says the implementation of the drone is part of the company’s open-technology strategy, announced in January.
“The Parrot Bebop Drone will give journalists on location another valuable tool to enable them to deliver breaking news first,” says Martin Turner, director of media/enterprise at Inmarsat. “When paired with Inmarsat’s BGAN and BGAN HDR services, live broadcast of aerial footage can provide a unique perspective on, for example, reports on civil disturbances and natural disasters – footage which can prove extremely expensive to get any other way.”
Inmarsat and Parrot worked together over a six-month period of rigorous testing to ensure that the drone would work effectively over the network. This followed a collaborative review process between the two companies.
“The drone used in these situations avoids potential hazards to film crews attempting to capture similar footage on the ground. And because BGAN works across Inmarsat’s global network, journalists can deliver breaking news whenever and wherever it happens, even if cellular and terrestrial networks are degraded or not present,” Turner explains.
Nadeem Khan, head of enterprise applications enablement at Inmarsat, adds, “The solution works with Inmarsat-endorsed codecs that customers already use today, meaning that businesses that already broadcast live using BGAN can easily add the Bebop Drone to their toolkit, creating an even more versatile broadcasting solution.”
