Mq, the reason G* is failing is because there simply isn't a big enough market for mobile GEO sat phones to make the business profitable - not the first go-round. G* will have to do what Iridium has done - go through Chapter 11 and shaft the first set of investors.
Thuraya and ACeS are kicking G* ass because they only need one satellite to serve a couple million customers. Let's face it - all you need your satphone to do is connect to a land line - how many people need to connect to more than one sat? Most globe-trotters can use their cell phones where ever they go. Ships at sea is about it - and they've already got Insmarsat (which was set up with government subsidies and not privatized until it was able to stand on its own.)
I figured this out in March, 2000 - too bad for you that you didn't.
>>In the view of the man running Inmarsat, granddaddy of all satellite telecom services, ACeS and Thuraya have set up great business models for handset-based satellite telephony.
"Unlike Iridium, these companies worked backward from consumers they know well," said Michael Storey, president and CEO of Inmarsat.
"In many of the countries they cover, anything is better than a forked stick with a message in it."
The ideas driving Iridium and Globalstar evolved before mobile phone roaming was widely available.
"When roaming finally came to the United States, they decided the rest of the world would also be their market," Mr. Storey said. "This was a crazy idea, but there is something odd about satellites that makes people irrational."<<
iht.com
Whoops! Here comes ICO:
space.com
Haven't been paying attention to the sat biz lately. ICO is MEO, not GEO, so they only need 12 sats, in contrast to G*'s 48. Bigger ones, more complex. Backed by Craig McCaw and Well, we'll see. |
