Two East Anglian firms have teamed up to provide an end-to-end tracking solution for the new Iridium Extreme satellite phone.

AWS from Great Blakenham, near Ipswich, and Applied Satellite Technology (AST) from Great Yarmouth have agreed to work together to create low cost option for two-way satellite messaging.

AST is a leading provider of satellite equipment and airtime and markets and sells satellite navigation emergency devices and vessel monitoring system devices.

It will now add the Global Alerting Platform (GAP), a pay-as-you-go, cloud-based system for satellite messaging, tracking and alerting by AWS to their onsat-track portfolio of products.

Software company AWS already provides global tracking solutions for satellite communications. It has integrated GAP with AST’s processes to provide a one-stop shop for satellite messaging.

Richard Prodger, technical director at AWS, said: “We are delighted to be working with AST to bring this exciting new technology to market. The relationship builds on our joint work with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).”

David Davies, director at AST Group, added: “The AWS GAP provides a significant value add for our customers enabling tracking and delivery of alerts for Iridium’s brand new and industry-leading Extreme handset, for which AST is delighted to be a launch partner.”