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

To: David Wiggins who wrote (7607)	9/28/1999 11:42:00 AM
From: Timothy R. Tierney	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29987

If ya want to compare apples to apples or I* to G* then you are gooing to have to wait till G* does in fact turn on the switch ...otherwise it ain't bananas to bananas...

To: David Wiggins who wrote (7607)	9/28/1999 12:15:00 PM
From: Wysiwyg	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29987

David, It's hard to take your criticism seriously. Do you have any idea what it takes to roll out a system of this scale. You sound as if you think this is some kind of a race where any results are better than good results. What do you think they have been doing for the last month or so? My guess is that they have had to load and then test quite a bit of software. Do you remember what the early digital, cellular conversions sounded like. It was quite some time before they became an acceptable product. Regards Wysiwyg

To: David Wiggins who wrote (7607)	9/28/1999 1:34:00 PM
From: John Stichnoth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29987

Lest your post give an occasional visitor the wrong impression, here are some errors in it: Re: "we want to avoid the same mistakes.." From this investor's opinion, Globalstar has (from an investment perspective) done just as sh**y a job as Iridium rolling out it's service - arguably worse. Where did you get the idea that G has rolled out service yet? Rollout is set to begin in early October. G* is not yet offering the service commercially. The only users are beta testers, who are employees of G* and Airtouch. An interesting comparison would be to start with the dates service was first technically feasible. Let's say the day Iridium 'turned on the switch' and 1 August 1999 for Globalstar. No, not August 1. And yes I think it will be interesting to compare the two services' first 60 or 90 days of operation. Let's check back when G* releases results for CY4Q99, say in March 2000, although I'm confident that we will be able to dig up some interim evidence of progress in the meantime. From that point we can compare share price performance and subscriber numbers (I know, I know, Globalstar doesn't use these - but we need apples to apples here) Not a problem. We can get some ball-park estimates, based on assumed minutes of use per subscriber. And, by the way, since G's revenues are based on MOU, isn't it best of they report MOU's rather than subscribers, or handsets sold? We know handsets are limited. By focusing on MOU we are more likely to get handsets into hands where they will be used. I'm not sure about share price, but both took a dive. On subscribers, surpise, surprise, Iridium is the clear winner. For the first two months, globalstar gets a goose egg. Oh, David, when you repeat an accusation it's really best if your accusation is true. Again, G has not started commercial service. There's nothing to compare! So, no goose egg. As an aside, I'd say I'd give Iridium a thumbs up for th old college try. Globalstar's efforts at even the most basic promotion have made them look unprepared and disorganized at best. Please remember that G* is not responsible for promotion in each of the service areas. The Service Providers are. G's role is limited to establishing a corporate identity, and laying out very general parameters. Those have been in place on G's web site, for instance, for quite awhile. Also, is your criticism supported by review of G* ads in the various trade magazines that are targeted at G's target markets? G has made a deliberate decision to avoid the general media, especially TV, and so avoid squandering marketing dollars. Several adverts have been reported on this thread, in properly targeted periodicals. Web sites are being updated (see cf, ogara.com). Right now, it seems the only thing that is keeping Globalstar's share price from completely tanking ala Iridium is their much less restrictive debt covenants. Of course, less restrictive loan covenants are welcome. Part of irid's problem early on was that the media led every article with reference to these rather aggressive hurdles that irid had to leap. That certainly contributed to their demise. G* has less debt, in absolute terms, and a lower breakeven than irid had. Those aren't bad attributes, either. If G* adds 5,000 subscribers per month in the first couple of months--a number I absolutely expect them to exceed--they can still make a success, especially given the soft rollout that they are doing. Irid had no chance at that level. I'm sure this post is gonna raise some hackels - hopefully at Golbalstar. So be it. Lemme have it. This thread isn't much of a flame-war thread, thankfully. I very much appreciate the high level of discussion. Some criticism of the company is certainly warranted--eg., the lack of handsets availability at kickoff. But, overall, so far management's done an excellent job getting to where we are. Now, it's up to the SP's to sell the product. Best, JS