CDMA, Globalstar versus Iridium, Inmarsat, etc. Message Board

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Technology Stocks : CDMA, Globalstar versus Iridium, Inmarsat, etc.

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To: Carolyn who wrote (363)	5/30/2004 8:38:46 PM
From: verdad	Read Replies (3) of 381

Hi Carolyn - Keep in mind that Globalstar will only provide coverage 24 hours a day up to 66 1/2 degrees North & South lattitude. Further north or south (closer to the poles), it will only provide service for a fraction of the day when a satellite may come into view for a short period of time (simply due to the curvature of the earth and the orbits of the satellites within the Globalstar constellation which was really designed to provide maximum coverage closer to the Tropics of Cancer, Capricorn and over the equator--essentially, where populations are more dense). So, in some respects, your initial intuition is probably correct--if you're further north (above 66 1/2 degrees), you'll be better off with Iridium. Having said all that, Globalstar should provide good coverage for most of Canada--except any portion that is above 66 1/2 degrees north lattitude--I haven't looked on a map recently, so I don't know if this applies to parts of Canada as well as Alaska (66 1/2 degrees N. lattitude is pretty far north). Another thing to keep in mind is that Globalstar will typically only provide ocean coverage for approximately 200nm from major land masses. I'm not sure where you'd rent from... globalstarusa.com (when you click on this page at the Globalstar website, it says 'page does not exist') Here's a distributor that carries both models for purchase... georgesme.com I'm guessing the high price commanded for the Iridium phone is due to its truly global coverage compared to Globalstar's superior voice quality, but less ubiquitous coverage (as noted above) that is dependent upon locations of actual ground based gateways & orbit path of the constellation. Globalstar has coverage maps at their website: globalstarusa.com Hope this helps!

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