GlobalStar>
GLOBALSTAR PLANS TO ROLL OUT SERVICE
REGION-BY-REGION
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1999 9:51 PM
- Phillips Business Information
Oct. 14, 1999 (MOBILE SATELLITE NEWS, Vol. 11, No. 21 via COMTEX) --
Globalstar L.P. [GSTRF] announced it is initiating a phased rollout of its mobile
satellite phone service in regions of the world covered by its first nine operational
gateways.
The company initially will provide limited distribution of service to selected
individuals during "friendly user" trials in the United States, Canada, Brazil,
Argentina, China, Korea, South Africa, and parts of Europe.
This limited service introduction will allow service providers to make final
adjustments and refinements before launching full commercial service over the
next few months.
During the phased-in rollout, marketing, distribution and customer service systems
in the nine locations with ground stations will be tested and adjusted based on
feedback from early users, assuring high-quality service when Globalstar more
broadly is introduced around the world in the coming months.
...System Tested By More Than 1 Million Calls
"Globalstar and its partners are proud to introduce our satellite telephone service -
priced right, aimed at the right markets, and available through the right local
service providers," said Bernard Schwartz, chairman and CEO of Globalstar.
"Business people, residents of communities in developing countries, and industrial
users in distant or offshore locations can now access mobile, affordable
telecommunications wherever and whenever they need it.
"Globalstar users will also enjoy exceptional call quality," Schwartz continued.
"We've conducted exhaustive testing and placed over a million phone calls over
the system, ensuring highly reliable service with remarkable voice clarity. And our
lightweight, easy-to- use phone units make Globalstar the most convenient
satellite phone system ever designed."
The Globalstar satellite telephone service is unique among all telecommunications
systems. Using simple handsets or fixed phones, which operate much like
conventional cellular or wireline phones, Globalstar call signals are received by a
constellation of low-earth- orbiting satellites which cover virtually every populated
area on Earth, routing calls back to Globalstar gateways, into the terrestrial phone
network and on to their destinations.
The system's patented CDMA (code division multiple access) technology not only
increases system capacity but allows each call to be supported by multiple
satellites simultaneously. Thus, if a caller moves out of range of a satellite, the
call is handed off to another.
Globalstar's multi-mode phones may be used in cellular or satellite mode. The
phones automatically search for a terrestrial cellular connection where available
but switch to satellite mode whenever the user is out of cellular range, expanding
the reach of the cellular network.
While terrestrial cellular coverage continues to grow around the world, nearly 90
percent of the earth's surface remains unserved by a cellular network. These areas
now will be the covered by Globalstar service.
Fixed phone units are available for use in communities lacking cellular or wireline
service, particularly in developing countries, and at remote business and industrial
locations such as mines, petroleum exploration sites, and aboard ocean-going
vessels.
...The Globalstar System Will Offer Many Services
Globalstar also will offer many of the functions and services familiar to cellular
users, including call forwarding, voicemail, short messaging service (SMS), and,
beginning later in the year 2000, data and fax capabilities.
Globalstar service will be available to subscribers through established
telecommunications providers that include: Vodafone AirTouch, TE.SA.M. (a joint
venture between France Telecom and Alcatel), Dacom, Elsacom (a Finmeccanica
company) and China Telecom.
Globalstar, led by founding partner Loral Space & Communications, is a
partnership of telecommunications service providers and equipment
manufacturers. In addition to the service providers, Globalstar partners include
co-founder Qualcomm, along with Alenia Aerospazio (a Finmeccanica company),
DaimlerChrysler Aerospace and Hyundai.
Globalstar was reduced to a "buy" from a "strong buy" due to recent price
appreciation by William Kidd, a satellite analyst and vice president with C.E.
Unterberg, Tow-bin. Globalstar's shares now are trading near Kidd's $29 a share
year-end price target and offer limited potential for further short-term gains, despite
the likelihood it would outperform first-to-market rival Iridium LLC [IRID], which filed
for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection in August.
A high-profile demonstration of the Globalstar service is planned today in Geneva,
at the International Telecommunication Union's Telecom 99 conference, one of the
largest telecommunications trade shows in the world. Bernard Schwartz, chairman
of Loral Corp. [LOR] and its joint venture Globalstar, is scheduled to tout the new
service to the 200,000 attendees at the show.
Industry analysts predict that the prospects for other mobile satellite phone
systems hinge on whether Globalstar succeeds. At risk are Iridium and ICO
Global Communications [ICOGF], which also filed bankruptcy in August, as well
as Constellation and Ellipso.
Copyright Phillips Publishing, Inc.
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