Satellites on truck trial
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• The first trial of two-way satellite communications involving lorries in the UK is set to begin this month.
A small number of trucks from the TNT and United Transport Tankers fleets will be fitted with small "StandardC" cone aerials which will link the vehicles with their head office via an Inmarsat satellite.
The six-month trials should help TNT and urr to choose what information they need to
pass over the communications system.
John Osborne from United Transport says the trials involving UTT trucks will be limited to this country, but that its biggest potential will be for pan-European truck movements, where the equipment will aid vehicle location and allow instant transfer of information such as invoices from truck to head office and back.
Standard-C cone aerials do not need to be lined up with the satellite. They are around 30cm tall and 30cm in diameter. Six European manufacturers, including STC in Britain, plan to produce the equipment, which was developed by Inmarsat's laboratories in association with British Telecom International.