"Globalstar service is already available in 27 countries, and is planning to introduce service in over 80 countries by mid-year," sez G* USA.
Let's see, in the March 16 PR regarding special offers to Iridium subs, they said the same thing...but since then, they added (at least) Australia, so we should be at 28 countries, right?
More importantly, no one can be sure WHICH are the 27 countries where service "is available" and of those how many have service "available" to G* USA subscriber/roamers.
The G*USA web site still says coverage in Western Europe starts in March--did that happen? and is it available in ALL of Western Europe, which would bring the country total well above 27? And what about roaming to central America, Brazil and rest of S. America, Australia, and etc.
And why does the G*USA site still have two maps: one for "soft" launch and one for "commercial" launch?
Finally, as of April 3, the G* LP site still shows "expected satellite coverage as of April 2000" in 64 countries, many of which are not yet in service, and there's no telling which if any support interregional roaming.
Although it would be nice to have current sub and MoU counts, I can live without them; but I sure wish the company would at least provide current and consistent info on where and for whom the service is really operating. |
