**China Telecom To Be Sole Distributor of Globalstar Services in China
[No new info but, heck, doesn't it sound good? :-) djane]
(8/11/99) Globalstar, an international satellite communications
consortium founded by Loral Space & Communications and in
partnership with China Telecom (HK), announced on July 25 that it had
successfully launched another four satellites, raising its total number of
satellites in orbit to 32, according to the August 4 Tongxin Chanye Bao
(Telecommunications Industry News).
With the most recent launches, Globalstar has reached the minimum
number of satellites stipulated in its business plan for the end of Sept.
China Telecom, a subsidiary of China's Ministry of Information and
Industry (MII), will act as the sole distributor of Globalstar services in
China. The company will own and operate three planned Globalstar
ground stations and will be responsible for interconnecting the
Globalstar system with China's existing fixed line and wireless
infrastructure.
According to specialists at Globalstar, the 32 satellites should cover
the entire earth. Although the orbiting network cannot provide
maximum, full-service telecom capabilities at this moment, it should be
able to handle the low business volume expected at start-up.
During the next few months, Globalstar will launch another 20 satellites
to complete the deployment of a total of 48 main satellites and four
standby satellites.
In China, Globalstar uses the Internet access number 134. After
planned upgrades the prefix will include the extra digit ?9.?
In the fourth quarter of this year, Ericcson QUALCOMM Inc. and
TELITAL will beginning supplying special handsets to be used with the
Globalstar service. Production capacity is expected to reach 40,000
sets per month by the beginning of 2000.
Beijing Gateway will be among the first group of Globalstar
communication gateways to go into operation. The system is
undergoing trials and call testing right now. The testing of the entire
network should be completed by the end of August.
When Globalstar begins operating this year, it will initially only provide
voice communication capabilities. Data, fax and localized services will
be available in 2000.
Globalstar is a consortium of leading international telecommunications
companies which began working together in 1991. Comprised of 13
major companies, Globalstar has signed agreements to market its
services in more than 120 nations around the world.
The consortium?s worldwide partner base and constellation of 48
satellites work together to connect users to local fixed line and
wireless services. The company?s ultimate goal is to provide global
roaming, cellular extension, and remote fixed services to all market
segments, virtually anywhere on the planet.
Globalstar's service providers and partners have agreed to conduct
operations in over 100 countries. Each service provider has exclusive
rights to offer Globalstar services, obtain all necessary regulatory
approvals and own and operate the gateways necessary to serve their
respective markets.
In addition to China Telecom, other Globalstar partners include
Qualcomm Incorporated, AirTouch Communications, Alenia, DACOM,
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, Elsacom (a Finmeccanica Company),
TE.SA.M (a France Telecom/Alcatel company), Hyundai, Space
Systems/Loral and Vodafone
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¸ ChinaOnline 1999. |
