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

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (6906)	8/27/1999 3:04:00 AM
From: John Stichnoth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29987

Maurice, I don't give unqualified support to the "don't worry" side. As I said, there is cause for concern. Two thoughts are somewhat intermixed in what I hope/think is happening: 1. Some of the infrastructure is not quite ready. Gateways. Handsets. That to me is pretty inexcusable, but must be gotten right before rollout starts in full. One of the irid lessons learned is that they started service before they were ready, and consequently the customers' experience and word of mouth were awful. Immediately, the only stories that started getting around were that irid was having trouble getting going. Nobody was buying their service. Which leads to 2. It would be a real scene stealer if each of the SP's could make a series of announcements on rollout, that such-and-such a company had committed to purchasing 500 handsets, or 1000 handsets, etc. I presume (hope?) that that kind of marketing is going on right now. I don't, of course, expect that Number 2 is the situation. But I hope it is. And if management feels that by delaying a couple of months they can ensure some announcements like that on rollout, then they are reducing risk, imo. One obvious initial customer is Schlumberger. (It was posted on this thread that they make the fixed terminals, although I haven't seen it elsewhere). They'd be a natural to take some handsets, for their remote operations. Best, John

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (6906)	8/27/1999 11:40:00 AM
From: Matthew Wecksell	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29987

As a firm believer that microsoft got where they are today (in part) by knowing hot to take garbage and market it, I really hope that the management at Globalstar takes a good hard look at Iridium, and listens to everyone who is asking the big question: "Why won't you fail too?" I really, really hope these people let Maurice run their marketing department. G* needs to use the Microsoft business model - lock the customer in with what seems like a good deal, and hold them forever. The cheaper the minutes are at the launch, and the clearer the marketing message at the launch, the greater number of people will sign on initially. G* needs a lot of charter subscribers to take off. Catering to the rich few who don't mind high per minute costs is insane, and if G* lets their service providers run with that, they'll never get the volume that brings big mindshare in the market and big profits to the shareholders. ---matt

To: Maurice Winn who wrote (6906)	8/27/1999 5:28:00 PM
From: Ruffian	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29987

Doomed? ANALYSIS-Wireless phone growth doomed satellites biz.yahoo.com CHICAGO, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Satellite phone companies underestimated the rapid expansion of land-based wireless phone systems, and the error may prove to be fatal, analysts said on Friday, when the second satellite phone company in two weeks filed for bankruptcy protection. ICO Global Communications Ltd. (Nasdaq:ICOGF - news) filed for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code, one of its stakeholders said on Friday. Two weeks ago, Iridium LLC (Nasdaq:IRIQ - news), the satellite phone company bankrolled by Motorola Inc.(NYSE:MOT - news), filed for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code after it defaulted on more than $1.5 billion in loans. ''I'm not at all surprised,'' said Mark Roberts, telecommunications analyst with First Union, referring to ICO Global's Chapter 11 filing. ''The areas of the world that are not covered by wireless telecommunications are shrinking very rapidly, so the target market for satellites is shrinking.'' The idea of satellite phones fascinated investors at first. They envisioned globe-trotting executives shelling out big bucks to stay in touch with the home office. But by the time Iridium's system was operational late last year -- and before ICO Global started service -- cell towers were quickly popping up along highways and on top of buildings across the United States and around the world.