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


To: Rocket Scientist who wrote (6979)8/28/1999 4:29:00 PM
From: Serendipity  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 29987
 
What I am trying to understand is when the product RTMs. When can you and I subscribe to a phone service. I am not interested in trials....a sub will not pay for a beta product.

If the article about the rapid rollout of cellular is accurate, Globalstar is doomed as well. I give it 6 months before Globalstar is unable to fulfill its loan covenants.



To: Rocket Scientist who wrote (6979)8/28/1999 4:52:00 PM
From: Jim Parkinson  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 29987
 
Good post RS. I too feel the early handset issue is not the way to judge success. IR told me that the 2002 bus plan for Lor/G has not changed on bit in their opinion.

Just for fun, imagine a scenario where Ir did a soft rollout last November instead of saying "Here world, come and buy are shakey system. We are not sure it works very well and don't even have licenses in several areas but what the heck, we built it and you will buy it. Where? We are kinda keeping that a secret but we will let you know." Maybe a soft rollout with strategically placed handsets with sophisticated users who expected initial quality defects in areas fully licensed with trained sp's just might have resulted in some happy campers who start telling their friends and neighbors that this will work and we are getting happier by the day. Would that have resulted in 5,000 initial subs and 5,000 per month thereafter as soon as the sp's & Kyocera got their act together? Would they have ever made a ton of money? I never thought so but that may very well have kept them out of bk. Remember, Ir had to have 66 birds up before they could go live. They couldn't do a soft rollout until then but they still could have been more selective to avoid the disaster that befell them. G* can do a soft rollout that builds steam as the bugs are worked out and the sp/ptrs fully understand the system. Just a thought.



To: Rocket Scientist who wrote (6979)8/28/1999 5:13:00 PM
From: djane  Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 29987
 
*Telecom '99* Why are there no G*/LOR reps listed on the following List of Speakers or Forums? Isn't this 10/10-10/17/99 event supposed to be Globalstar's big coming out party? The real pisser -- there are many Iridium, ICO and Intelsat folks listed for various forums. Unless this is only the preliminary schedule and G*/LOR reps were later included in this program, I would like an explanation from G* management. djane

List of Speakers (long download)
itu.int

Session Title: Wireless Access: a viable option for developing countries
Satellite and terestrial wireless access technologies for fixed and mobile users have developed to the extent that makes almost all of them at least a viable option to consider when planning to build new telecommunication networks in developing countries or to enhance the existing ones. In order to achieve the best economical results it is necessary to take into account the special geographical and social-economic conditions of individual countries. Quite often it is also necessary to adjust the existing regulatory framework if it is inherently prohibitive for the introduction of new telecommunication technologies. The best approach to deployment of wireless access technologies usually varies from country to country. Besides discussing the advantages and disadvantages of technologies as such it is the intention of this session also to present successful examples of using these access technologies in several developing countries around the world.
itu.int

Session Title: MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS - OPENING AND POLICY PANEL
This session will examine some of the policy and regulatory issues related to the provision of both terrestrial and satellite-based wireless telecommunication services. These include pricing, licensing, frequency, numbering, roaming, standardisation and competition issues.
itu.int

Session Title: NEW TECHNOLOGIES - SATELLITE SOLUTIONS
This session is devoted to the developments of the satellite technologies which will allow satellites to play a more important role in telecommunication networks. In particular the session will focus on satellites with switching on board, intersatellite links, different orbital positions (GEO, MEO, LEO). With these characteristics the satellites will act as complete networks allowing end-to-end connections instead of being, as now, only network elements.
And, Intelsat publication "Satellite-based rural telephony: Effective solutions for infrastructure development"
itu.int



To: Rocket Scientist who wrote (6979)8/29/1999 9:58:00 PM
From: John Stichnoth  Read Replies (2) | Respond to of 29987
 
RS--The 10K is the only place I have seen written statements by G* describing the handset orders:

User Terminals. Ericsson, Qualcomm and Telital are manufacturing
approximately 300,000 handheld and fixed user terminals under contracts
totalling $353 million from Globalstar and its service providers. The first
generation handheld Globalstar Phones are expected to weigh about twelve ounces
and be available in attractive designs with dimensions (excluding antenna) of
approximately 6.25" x 2" x 1.75".


I do seem to remember that in a conference call, the company indicated that the handsets would be delivered over a period of time starting about now, and that all would be delivered by a certain contracted date, not disclosed. If we assume a run rate of 40,000 per month, then that would take 7 1/2 months to fill, putting us into July to get delivery.

Also, where did you get the 100K per month number?

I like your talk of a soft rollout, btw. This would dovetail nicely with the apparent beta-test period. I would love to see them beta or rollout to one company as a whole, also (e.g., a mining company, or such).

But, after thinking over the weekend about Maurice's an V-man's recent posts, I am getting more and more concerned over the shift to the right in the schedule. It's expensive to wait.

Best,
JS



To: Rocket Scientist who wrote (6979)8/31/1999 5:30:00 PM
From: Maurice Winn  Respond to of 29987
 
Okay, last post! Credit where it's due. <There are several standards against which we can measure management's effectiveness: against some personal standard of perfection, against mgmt's stated busines plan, and against mgmt's competition. >

Competition is the best measure and between Qualcomm and Loral, they have built the best system and integrated it with the rest of the telecommunications maelstrom really well. You know, Irwin Jacobs has spun off so much stuff over the decades it's unbelievable. It's like a black hole in reverse. Bernie Schwartz had the wit to see the opportunity and the ability to see it through.

It truly is an amazing achievement and in my opinion a crowning glory of the 20th century. In 1996 I ranted in SI about how the MIRV rockets of USSR were being beaten into ploughshares to be launched from Kazakhstan with Globalstar satellites. Okay, so Zenit pranged. Never mind, Soyuz has worked well and more to come. This is about a LOT more than money. This is about human dreams. I am so excited to be a little part of it [an investor]. As a child I was frightened of nukes but loved rockets and stuff. To see the nuke rockets launching communications is as good as life gets, apart from love and health.

ICO, the government department, has come a gutser. Due to cultural problems, which is funny since they were boasting about how their staff were from all round the world and how it was like a UN and stuff. Well, if they'd been more interested in their customers than themselves, they might have succeeded. The UN means well too, but bureaucrats, bossy types and governments can't help themselves.

Iridium came a gutser too. A victim of corporate hubris, arrogance and no think. Motorola was King and when you are that good, the mere fact of thinking something feels so good that one just knows one is right. Even as the mess started to draw in, they went with powerlifting macho attitudes and fired the rockets up anyway.

Globalstar has been excellent!

Odyssey, Constellation Communications, Ellipso and others have been unable to achieve the dream.

Globalstar alone has been able to do it. Well, nearly! And they can still goof it up singlehandedly. One doesn't need competition to fail.

It is crazy to think that they could fail at this late stage with the handsets [apparently and they bloody well better be] working perfectly, nearly all the satellites up and working fine and the gateways working and nearing completion [many of them]. All they have to do is sell them.

Sometimes people don't know how to sell stuff. They pretend price doesn't matter. They don't see that a huge surplus of a perishable product should be sold cheaply to generate sales. They get greedy.

It seems that with Bernie now saying $1 to $1.25 per minute and $1000 for a handset they recognize that a cheaper minute will sell a lot more.

We have 10bn for sale over the next 12 months. It would be nice to sell them all.

So, yes, this has been a brilliant achievement to date by Qualcomm and Loral. Congratulations and admirations!

So, how come the handsets haven't been ordered by the million? We need that many within 6 months [to meet my expectations] or 12 months [to meet most people's expectations].

Maurice

PS: Over and out!!!