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

To: Serendipity who wrote (8479)	11/28/1999 4:14:00 PM
From: John Stichnoth	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29986

Pooky, While I have no knowledge of unannounced departures, but would say I wouldn't be surprised if some occur. The company just announced some promotions and reassignments. In a reorganization of personnel like this, it is often the case that some people find themselves without an assignment, and end up leaving. Some turnover is healthy. Best, JS

To: Serendipity who wrote (8479)	11/29/1999 12:14:00 PM
From: SpudFarmer	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29986

Does this help any? Monday November 29, 12:00 pm Eastern Time INTERVIEW-Globalstar sees Mideast start early 2000 By Tara FitzGerald DUBAI, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Satellite telephone company Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd. (NasdaqNM:GSTRF - news) hopes to start its Middle East commercial services in early 2000, a senior official said on Monday. ``The plan is to start commercial services in the Middle East around April next year, once the satellite gateway in Saudi Arabia is up and running,' Peter Bacon, director for regional marketing at Globalstar, told Reuters in an interview. ``We are currently still in negotiations for licences in all the (Gulf Arab) countries. We believe Saudi Globalstar is very close to having an agreement, but nothing is finalised yet,' he said on the sidelines of a Middle East telecoms conference. Bacon said the company, which wants to provide telephone services around the world through a system of low-earth-orbiting satellites, was hoping to have a number of these licences sorted out before the gateway outside Riyadh started operations. ``But it is a long, slow process because you are dealing with monopoly organisations,' he added. The telecoms firm launched its first operations in several countries in October. It has 44 satellites in orbit and hopes to have 40-50 countries in service by the middle of next year. MAJOR MARKETS Bacon said Globalstar's major markets in the region were likely to be Saudi Arabia, Oman, Yemen, and Iran. ``Our main markets (worldwide) will be the larger ones where cellular services haven't really developed yet, like Brazil, the Middle East, Russia, China, India,' he added. He said that regionally, Globalstar would be targetting people living in remote areas where it is not economically viable to provide cellular services. It would also look to capture what he called the ``cellular extension' market, ``so the customer uses GSM where they can and then roams onto Globalstar where they cannot.' But satellite telecoms have not proved plain sailing so far. Globalstar's two main competitors, Iridium LLC (NasdaqNM:IRIQ - news) and ICO Global Communications Ltd. (NasdaqNM:ICOF - news) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August this year. Since the filings, analysts have questioned whether there is a future for satellite telephony, saying satellite companies underestimated the rapid expansion of cellular services, which eroded demand for the more expensive satellite phones. Bacon told the conference it was different for Globalstar as its tariffs were lower than Iridium's, ``and our handsets should also be a lot cheaper than our competitors.' He added that Globalstar had very strong partners who had helped to shape their service. Globalstar is 45 percent owned by Loral Space & Communications Ltd.(NYSE:LOR - news). Bacon said the Abu Dhabi-based Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company remained a strong competitor for Globalstar in the Middle East. Thuraya has said it will launch its first telecoms satellite in the middle of next year and start operations in the fourth quarter of 2000.