Jon and all,
What if Globalstar's sats did not fall, the following news is going to do wonders for QCOM, LOR and G*'s shareholders. Well. That was my dream before. Here is the reality.
Globalstar makes first public satellite phone call
Globalstar News Release
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Globalstar and founding partners QUALCOMM and Telecommunications par Satellites Mobiles (TE.SA.M.) successfully conducted the first public phone call made via the Globalstar mobile satellite system before an audience at the sixth Satel Conseil Symposium in Paris. The call, conducted on September 9, 1998, received an enthusiastic response from the conference attendees.
Standing by Napoleon's Tomb on the Champs de Mars in Paris, Mr. Jean Bernard Lagarde, director general of TE.SA.M., and Mr. Bill Thatcher, vice president of business development for Globalstar, placed the call on a QUALCOMM Globalstar handset and reached the president of TE.SA.M., Mr. Enrique Fernandez, during the conference's session on mobile satellite systems.
TE.SA.M, a partnership between France Telecom and Alcatel, is a founding partner of Globalstar and a major Globalstar service provider.
"I'm very pleased to be involved in making this first public phone call via the Globalstar satellite system," said Thatcher during the call to the conference members. "We've been looking forward to this moment for a long time."
The inaugural public phone call was transmitted from a QUALCOMM Globalstar handset to a passing Globalstar satellite orbiting 1414 kilometers overhead, and relayed to the TE.SA.M-owned Globalstar gateway in Aussaguel, France. The call was then routed to the satellite conference at Maison de la Chimie in Paris via the local public switched telephone network (PSTN).
"We've certainly come a long way since this venture was started," said Mr. Thatcher. "Not only does this call confirm key aspects of Globalstar technology transmitted over satellite, it clearly validates QUALCOMM's CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) wave form, and the gateway infrastructure that QUALCOMM has developed for the Globalstar system." The call was concluded with warm thanks to the QUALCOMM team supporting the demonstration.
The Globalstar system, comprising 48 low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites and a global network of ground stations, will allow people around the world to make or receive calls using hand-held, vehicle-mounted and fixed-site terminals. Globalstar will also provide data transmission, messaging, facsimile and position location services.
Globalstar currently has eight satellites in orbit and expects to have a minimum of 32 satellites in its constellation to initiate commercial service in the Fall of 1999. Five Globalstar gateways are being used to control and test the satellite system, and site work and construction is under way at 20 more gateway sites around the world. Globalstar has service provider agreements in 117 countries, covering most of Globalstar's business plan.
Brian H. |
