[SatNews] Next-generation internet protocol (IP) services have been successfully trialed across Inmarsat's BGAN network.

Backed by the European Space Agency and the U.K.'s Technology Strategy Board, Inmarsat has now completed an initial study on the feasibility of supporting IPv6 services, which arei the next-generation version of Internet Protocol (IP), the system by which much of the world's digital information is transferred across networks. The trial, undertaken with Inmarsat's technology partner Thrane & Thrane, coincided with World IPv6 Day on June 8th. The event, sponsored by the Internet Society, aimed to motivate organisations across the ICT industry to prepare their services for the introduction of IPv6.

Major organisations such as Google, Facebook and Yahoo! were among participants who offered their content over IPv6 for a 24-hour 'test flight', which enabled Inmarsat and Thrane & Thrane to demonstrate BGAN's compatibility with the new protocol. The IPv6 over BGAN trial, undertaken by Thrane & Thrane using an EXPLORER 500 land mobile terminal, involved successfully establishing an IPv6 connection from Windows and Apple-based computers via Inmarsat's BGAN network to the public IPv6 Internet. he connection was used for web browsing (HTTP) on ipv6.google.com, searching for the 'Internet Engineering Task Force' (IETF) and then visiting the IETF IPv6 site. IETF is the organization responsible for creating the IPv6 protocol suite.