Looks like Iridium may not not be FULLY operational on September 23. G* shareholders note--G* can do a great deal of testing on its system with the sats we have up there, as well as continue to do so as more sats are added. This contrasts with Iridium which had to wait for the whole constellation to be in orbit to do extensive testing. Here you see the results--notice that beta tests begin in mid September for a Sep. 23 launch--8 days should be sufficient to "get the bugs out"???:
"Installation of the final satellite software is scheduled to be completed prior to the September 23, 1998 commercial activation date. However, delays in the development of this software have resulted in a shortened schedule for subscriber trials in advance of commercial service. The delay in the availability of the final constellation software has also impacted testing by Motorola and Kyocera of the handsets, which could result in delays of handset deliveries, particularly by Kyocera. It is anticipated that Motorola handsets will be available in sufficient quantities to support the initial demand following commercial activation, with Kyocera handsets available later in 1998. Deployment of the gateway ground stations and business offices remains on schedule for the September 23rd commercial activation, as testing continues on the satellites, network, telephony, paging and billing systems. Operations trials for voice services have been completed successfully in 10 gateway territories. Business systems hardware and software has been installed in 14 of 15 gateway business offices; nine of them have completed software acceptance testing and are certified as ready for commercial activation. The Iridium Clearinghouse, where worldwide call records are processed, is now production ready and is operating on a 24-hour-per-day basis.
Equipment for the China gateway has been shipped and the installation of hardware and software has begun with the goal of having the gateway operational by the start of commercial service.
As network testing and operational trials near completion, the system is moving into alpha trials, which rehearse the integrated operation of the network in a production environment. Alpha trials focusing on business scenarios, including subscriber provisioning, SIM card validation and call detail record processing are underway. Constellation based ''network'' alpha trials are scheduled to begin on August 1, 1998. Following alpha trials, subscribers will begin participating in beta tests, leading up to commercial activation of the system. Beta tests are scheduled to commence in mid- September and will continue through the commencement of commercial service."
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