Larry, Globalstar can supply business people too. Being cheaper doesn't mean you can only supply people with less money. Globalstar can supply both business people AND the third world phone box customers. Globalstar can undercut Iridium as necessary to get whichever customers they choose. Obviously they will first supply the higher paying customers.
Meanwhile, you point out a valid weakness in Globalstar. Polar flights and of course Inuit polar bear merchants on the ice floes up north can't use Globalstar phones.
But there are very few polar air routes. If you get your trusty globe out, you will see that New York to Peking and Los Angeles to Moscow are two transpolar routes, but the great majority of routes are at or below the arctic circle. Globalstar service will reach them. Being 10 km high helps too. I actually doubt that there are flights direct from New York to Peking or Los Angeles to Moscow, but there might be. So people on those flights would be 3 or 4 hours without Globalstar service. There would be some oceanic gaps too, such as the South Pacific and a small area of the south Indian ocean as I don't think there are islands there for gateways. But everywhere else, there are islands abounding.
Whether it is economic to fill all those gaps for the few people who might want service there is questionable. Gateways aren't free. It would be nice to say there is TOTAL coverage, but if people were given a map of the globe with coverage shown, I doubt that many people would be worried that they couldn't get service at the poles or half way between New Zealand and the south of Chile.
I'd be happy to explain to big business that I could supply a phone with a cheaper per minute rate other than the times when they fly from Moscow or Peking and even then, they could just use an inflight phone if they wanted to. I'm sure airlines will provide service from both Iridium and Globalstar.
You ask who will boat out to maintain the remote Globalstar gateways such as those on Hawaii, Guam, Midway, Fiji, Tahiti etc etc etc. The world does not start and stop on the shores of the USA. There are people everywhere and these islands are not wind blown uninhabited rocks. Take a look at a globe. You sound as though you'll be surprised at how many populated islands there are with power supplies, satellite telephone links etc. Tropical storms are not a problem. Gateways have big bolts and blocks of concrete for foundations. There is wind everywhere. Even in the USA there are hurricanes.
Your logic is missing here: "As for the gateways, that is merely a connection to ground based systems which obviously have no problem penetrating buildings. However, in remote areas Iridium can go directly to the phone because there are obviously no obstructions."
This does not explain how the presence of a gateway helps a handset penetrate a building to the satellite. I guess you mean where there is a gateway, there will be terrestrial service. But you said that gateways would help building penetration. How?
Also, you said:
"We need facts, not speculation. According to an article from the Bangkok Post, and I quote "The proposed system would not compete with Iridium because mobile communications links would not be provided. Instead it would focus on services including wireless internets". In addition, Motorola has gauranteed $1.1 billion in loans made to Iridium, I do not believe that they would let Iridium die and eat those loans."
Well, that is all speculation. It might be a fact that that is what they said. But what they actually do could well be different from what they say. Especially with what's her name there. If she is. The system can easily be made to carry voice. I will assume that a competitor intends to compete with me. You can bet what you like. And sure, Iridium has guaranteed loans. I have agreed that Iridium will be profitable. It will see its life out. Motorola's loan guarantee will not be called. The first constellation will be the last. M-Star will replace it. That all makes very good sense to me.
You also said:
"Iridium will also be a huge customer of Motorola for years to come, another reason to keep it around."
Yes, it's true that they get income from Iridium. But they will get more income from M-Star, because it will be more profitable. They will get the design work again, PLUS better call profitability.
Mqurice
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