April 4, 2000 04:32 PM Eastern Time
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 4, 2000--Globalstar GSTRF today announced that its global mobile satellite telephones were successfully used by election officials in the war-torn region of Chechnya to report results in the recent Russian presidential elections in areas where no alternative telephone system was available.
Last month, Globalstar's Russian service provider, GlobalTel, rushed several Globalstar mobile satellite telephones to officials in Chechnya, where the phones were distributed among eighteen regional voting locations lacking basic telephone service. Using the Globalstar phones, election officials were able to report local election returns to the Regional Voting Commission's central office in Chechnya.
"The Globalstar phones were requested by the First Deputy Minister of Telecommunications, Mr. Yuri Pavlenko," said Gennady Guichkin, director general of GlobalTel. "The Globalstar network enabled the voting commission to have real-time communications with the polling stations throughout the Chechen region, making an accurate, timely national election possible."
Mr. Guichkin also reported that Deputy Minister Edward Ostroski, who arranged for the use of the Globalstar mobile satellite phones, thanked Globalstar for its responsiveness in delivering the phones. Mr. Guichkin noted that the situation was greatly assisted by the fact that the Qualcomm Globalstar phones were easy to use, and required little or no instruction.
GlobalTel operates three gateways in Russia, including the Moscow gateway, which serves the Chechen region. Commercial service from the Moscow gateway will begin in the second quarter, with the remaining gateways and coverage areas entering commercial service in late summer.
Globalstar, led by founding partner Loral Space & Communications, is a partnership of the world's leading telecommunications service providers and equipment manufacturers, including co-founder Qualcomm Incorporated, Alenia, China Telecom (HK), DACOM, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, Elsacom (a Finmeccanica Company), Hyundai, TE.SA.M (a France Telecom/Alcatel company), Space Systems/Loral, and Vodafone AirTouch. For more information, visit Globalstar's web site at www.globalstar.com.
Loral Space & Communications LOR is the managing partner and, at 40 percent, is the largest equity owner of Globalstar. Loral is a high technology company that concentrates primarily on satellite manufacturing and satellite-based services, including broadcast transponder leasing and value-added services, domestic and international corporate data networks, global wireless telephony, broadband data transmission and content services, Internet services, and international direct-to-home satellite services. For more information, visit Loral's web site at www.loral.com.
CONTACT: Mac Jeffery 212/338-5358
interesting little blurp
JP |
