Maurice & Larry L.,
You two beat all, you know that? You're both missing the big picture here, you know that, don't you? Before I put my spin on the big picture, let me tell you how you can show yourselves what G*'s coverage is going to be. Take a globe, and measure it's circumference in inches, cm, Angstroms, cubits, light years, or whatever. Multiply that number by 0.0353. Now measure that far off the globe's surface. Not too far, is it? This is G* "scaled" altitude for the globe you are using. Now stick your eye that far away from the globe. If you can focus on the globe at that distance, that is what the satellite will be able to see, too. It is also, more or less, going to be what the coverage is going to be. So if you can find any tiny little islands in your field of view that don't have a gateway, and you can't see a country that does have a gateway, well that little island is out of luck.
For those interested, G* orbit (re www.globalstar.com) is 1414km. the 0.0353 number is basic arithmetic that you learned in the 6th grade and forgot by the end of Summer vacation.
But, my response is a resounding SO WHAT! I'm sick and tired of listening to the argument that Iridium is going to be gobbled up by jet-setting business men because Iridium covers 100% of the oceans surface. Bullshit. How many business men do you know that make their decisions regarding personal electronics based on how long they are going to be anchored 1000 miles away from the nearest gateway. I know zero. I know a few, however, myself included, who would buy a phone because when I was 1000 miles awy from the nearest gateway, no one could reach me. But more to the point is that when someone is in the phone store holding the two handsets one is going to be $3000 and one is going to be $750. One is going be $1.75 minute and one is going to be about half that. And the less expensive one is going to be 100% adequate for about 98% of the population. Most business men I know, when faced with that kind of price difference vs performance difference are going to vote with their wallet - if they are buying the phone. Most corporations, I would bet, would also chose that route when arming their executives with a satellite based phone. Heck, why would Acme Widgets Inc. want to buy their sales staff a $3000 phone that works at the north pole when a $750 phone is available that works virtually anywhere there is a road that the salesman can drive into town on? Granted Iridium's 100% coverage is an advantage. But what we are talking about here, gentlemen, is market share. An Iridium executive was quoted once (please don't make me remember where) that Iridium is for the guy who never looks at his phone bill. Most people I know DO look at their phone bill.
Polar air routes won't count in the big picture, either. Most people when faced with the decision to buy one or the other aren't going to be phased by, "Oh. This one won't work when I fly from New York to Moscow". Besides, both systems are negotiating with airlines, which can haul along special equipment to improve/extend coverage - perhaps even bouncing the signal off of other satellites to give coverage over air polar routes.
I read in this months printed version of Launchspace (www.launchspace.com, but don't know if the article is posted on their site) an estimate that by the turn of the century there will be 15 trillion minutes per year of "phone time", and of that 10% will be wireless. That's a big market. And I think G* is poised for a BIG share of that market. |
