Mobile Service Revenue per Minute
Selected European Operators, 1995-1998
1995 1996 1997 1998
Fixed Revenue per Minute 0.17 0.17 0.14 0.13
Mobile Revenue per Minute 0.64 0.56 0.52 0.47
from:
Message 8049218
As pointed out, this makes Globalstar competitive in downtown Paris since Globalstar can sell minutes for 10c and still make a profit. Especially with constellations 2, 3 and 4.
GSM is supposed to have been wonderful for Europe and saved them from having many technologies which would stop them roaming. This way, with GSM only, they can roam everywhere and not be able to afford to make a call. Though in Finland and I suppose Sweden, I believe prices are WAYY below that. I'll ask Tero what European prices are.
Also, my reporter in Japan checked on Iridium sales in Fujikawa [another area of smaller scale than Akihabara] and he said there were no Motorola handsets and the Kyocera, which had been in the shop since beginning of January [presumably needing software upgrades if anyone bought one] hadn't sold. So it seems that in Japan, Iridium sales are sluggish at best.
"...Globalstar is aiming to have 3 million subscribers by 2002. Exclusive rights
to the Globalstar service are held by different distributors worldwide which
then sign agreements with local telecom companies. ..."
I suppose that means over 3 years [half the constellation life] Globalstar expects to sell only 1 million handsets per year. When the constellation needs replacement, it still won't be quite full. They obviously aren't planning to launch a second constellation while the first is flying around unused, so the second constellation at this stage is not due until 2007 or thereabouts.
Good grief, that is so slow that competitors will be crawling all over us. There are a hundred million people right now who will use Globalstar type service at 10c per minute. We need to be aiming at those people and collecting their money. If we won't provide the service, somebody else will. Sure, Qualcomm and Globalstar have the rights to Q technology, but we don't want to sit on it like a big dumb monopoly - we want to maximize profits which means getting heaps of customers, filling the system early, providing the best service at rates better than competitors [which include terrestrial, Geostationary, high orbit etc].
In five years, Globalstar handsets will be small, cheap, and the competitive position of Globalstar will continue to increase. We need to take advantage of that competitive position. Oh well, there'll be time to accelerate launch schedules to get constellation2 in orbit within a couple of years once demand is evident [assuming the minutes are sold really cheaply instead of the 'let's rip them off and leave our constellation barely used' approach].
Start the handset production lines now, start selling handsets now and provide free minutes for the rest of the year [just charge the terrestrial costs]. People can use them now for a couple of hours a day and in a month or two it will be 8 hours a day [more or less]. There is no need for a sudden 'switch the system on and do a big launch' as Iridium did. It is an incrementally developing system, so do an incremental marketing effort. Well, maybe it is a little bit early still, but let's not leave it too long...the system can still be half-baked and the hungry might as well start eating since the minutes are available and going to waste as you read this.
There are gateways in several countries so some service could be provided. Call it Beta or something, but let's go. There are lots of outback Australians would love to use the free Dubbo service as the existing satellites pass overhead. At the moment they have no service, so some is better than none.
Iridium woes are little to do with Globalstar. At least now people will be able to see that this is a competitive business and there isn't enough demand at any price for any lazy sod to rake in a fortune.
Rah! Rah! Rah! Globalstar...
Maurice |
