All,
It was almost a year ago that I poked a little light hearted humor, if not directly, through inference, at the Skystation venture promoted by Alexander Haig. See post 1026 here:
Message 1617562
It now appears these folks are more than just a little bit serious. They are now pursuing a full-fledged deployment. Take a look at their recent press releases and let's hear what some of you have to say. What is your take on this. Who, in your opinion, could stand to profit by partnering with them or integrating their services into a bundled set of offerings? Hmmm?
Regards,
Frank Coluccio
<press release follows>
from skystation.com
Sky Station International
1824 R Street, NW
Washington, DC 20009 USA
1.202.518.0900
fax 1.202.518.0802
www.skystation.com
Stratosphere Internet Project Launched With Global Industrial Team
WASHINGTON, D.C.; PARIS, FRANCE; ROME, ITALY --
April 23, 1998 --
Sky Station International, Inc., an emerging provider of low-cost broadband Internet capacity via stratospheric platforms announced today the official launch of its global industrial team with the signing of an agreement with Aerospatiale SNI of France for Phase B design and development of Sky Station International's platforms. The team also includes Alenia Spazio/Finmeccanica of Italy as the primary payload developer; Dornier Satellitensysteme GmbH in Germany - a corporate unit of Daimler-Benz Aerospace - as the supplier for several critical subsystems; COMSAT Laboratories of Maryland as communications network integrator; Thomson-CSF Communications of France as gateway earth station manufacturer and payload sub-contractor; United Solar Systems Corp. of Michigan as supplier of lightweight photovoltaic modules; and Stanford Telecom of California as one of the contractors for user terminals. All of these companies' efforts will be coordinated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), who will provide end-to-end system integration. The entire project is valued at $2.5 billion for a worldwide broadband infrastructure via Sky Station International's innovative stratospheric platforms.
"I am extremely proud of the global industrial team we have assembled for this historic project," said General Alexander M. Haig, Jr., a Sky StationT founder and Chairman of the Sky Station International Advisory Board. "This world-class industrial team represents a tour de force of business acumen and technology leadership that will deliver broadband information access to a billion households worldwide in the early years of the next decade. I am thrilled to be a part of it."
Rene Pellat, currently High Commissioner of the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and Chairman Emeritus of Sky Station France said, "This announcement marks a new beginning for commercial partnerships between France and the United States. French Industry will be a full partner in the development of this new technology as well as in the commercial success of each new application delivered by the platforms. I am proud to have been a part of the process which brought Sky Station International to France."
On behalf of Alenia Spazio's Chairman, Giuseppe Viriglio stated, "From the beginning, Alenia Spazio has believed in the technical validity and the great potential for the Sky StationT project. The participation of Aerospatiale lays the foundation today for a tripartite cooperation among industrial organizations in the United States, France and Italy in an important technological initiative rich with promises for the future."
Sky Station International has pioneered technology enabling a solar powered lighter-than-air platform to remain stationary in the stratosphere. A telecommunications system onboard each Sky StationT stratospheric platform delivers high-speed wireless communications (T-1 and E-1) directly to millions of subscribers within its 1,000 kilometer diameter footprint. Sky Station International's stratospheric telecommunications system is scheduled for launch in 2001 with the deployment of platforms 21 kilometers above each of the world's major metropolitan areas. Worldwide regulatory approval for the use of stratospheric platforms was granted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in November 1997 and by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) earlier that year. National authorities have already filed registrations with the ITU for over 50 Sky StationT platforms.
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