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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Globalstar Telecommunications Limited GSAT -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: djane who wrote (5361)	6/25/1999 1:30:00 AM
From: djane	Respond to of 29987

*Cheaper MSS calls seen likely as new players enter fray Friday, June 25, 1999 TELECOMS YVONNE CHAN Calls using mobile satellite systems (MSS) will become cheaper as new networks are launched in the next 18 months, according to British Telecom (BT) Aeronautical and Maritime managing director Rohan Chanmugam. He said satellite call rates from the United States that now cost US$3 per minute would drop to $2 within 12 months. Intra-regional tariffs could fall below $1 per minute within two years. While the cheapest phone calls are for local connections made on a fixed line, satellite phone calls are on the other side of the spectrum, costing up to $7 per minute. Financially troubled MSS operator Iridium this week announced it would drop prices for handsets and phone services in an effort to boost its lagging subscriber base. Iridium Southeast Asia has 1,000 customers in Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and Burma - only one-third of its targeted 3,000 subscriber base. Cable & Wireless HKT and SmarTone Communications have said they would resell Iridium services, but have yet to set launch dates. Despite Iridium's failure to reach targeted subscriber numbers - it only had 10,000 users at the end of March - many hardware and service providers remain optimistic about the future of MSS operators. Globalstar's MSS services will launch in the fourth quarter, followed by ICO Global next year. Ericsson and Mitsubishi have made prototypes of dual-mode handsets that can be used on both satellite and cellular phone networks. Satellite phone users are niche market, typically comprised of workers who are stationed in remote areas where there are no wire and cellular phone networks. MSS services are also known to suffer from line drop and have trouble penetrating inside buildings. Patrick Spink, manager of BT's marine and land mobile satellite services, said he did not believe that the addition of Globalstar and ICO would lead to an oversupply of services. "If you want to operate in any region . . . satellite is the only option," Mr Spink said. BT, which holds stakes in satellite projects such as Inmarsat and Intelsat, plans to spend $50 billion over the next five years to help develop what Mr Spink calls a "network in the sky". BT earlier this year bought a 20 per cent stake in SmarTone, which has said it will apply for an international gateway licence in the SAR. Using satellite as a means to facilitate SmarTone's proposed gateway services was possible and under discussion, Mr Chanmugam said. "The capability is there [but] we haven't decided how we're going to use it," he said. Copyright (c)1999. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All Rights Reserved.

To: djane who wrote (5361)	6/25/1999 1:31:00 AM
From: djane	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 29987

Net boom to lift satellite use Friday, June 25, 1999 INTERNET ASSOCIATED PRESS in Singapore Satellite usage in the Asia-Pacific region will experience steady growth along with a rise in Internet use, electronic commerce and mobile communications, according to industry executives. "I firmly believe that Asian economic and industrial growth will be stimulated by satellite-based Internet access, VSATs, e-commerce and direct-to-home TV networks," said Michael Houterman, president of Hughes Space and Communications International of the US. VSATs, or very small aperture satellite terminals, are small earth stations used to handle digital transmission of data. These are considered useful especially in non-wired and congested areas in Asia, he said. Demand for these services "in turn will stimulate new orders for new national and regional satellite capacity", Mr Houterman told delegates to the Asia Pacific Satellite Communications Summit. He cited industry figures showing Asia-Pacific economies would invest US$9.5 billion in 73 new communication satellites between this year and 2008. Thirteen launches valued at $1.7 billion were scheduled for this year in the region, with most of the new capacity used for direct-to-home TV networks and Internet Protocol (IP) applications, Mr Houterman said. "Importantly, massive deregulation in the region is facilitating both IP and VSAT communications. Ninety per cent of the countries in Asia Pacific have opened up their Internet access to competing carriers," he said. Among the trends pointing to increased satellite usage were the "much larger role" played by regional satellites over purely domestic satellites. Mr Houterman cited as an example an Intelsat satellite that enabled China Telecom to link the mainland to the Internet backbone in the US. Asian telecom firms were co-operating to expand their capacities. This included firms such as Singapore Telecommunications and Taiwan's Chunghwa Telecom, which launched a satellite last August. Western companies were also moving into the Asia-Pacific commercial communication satellite market to help the region improve its telecom services, Mr Houterman said. The Loral Global Alliance, a network of some of the world's leading satellite operators in the US, Europe and South America, is engaged in talks with telecom and information technology firms in Asia to boost its presence. The mainland is acknowledged as the biggest market for satellite-based communication services, but its own players are also gearing for the boom. With the mainland waiting to take its place in the World Trade Organisation, "in the telecommunications circle, especially as a satellite operator, we are preparing for big challenges," said Hao Weimin, president of China Orient Telecom Satellite. Copyright (c)1999. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All Rights Reserved.