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

To: leo_bloom who wrote (10160)	2/18/2000 10:17:00 AM
From: MileHigh	Respond to of 29987

This is what I was referring to yesterday. February 17, 2000 Microsoft makes satellite play By Georgie Raik-Allen Redherring.com, February 17, 2000 Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is teaming up with Israeli-based Gilat Satellite Networks (Nasdaq: GILTF) to create a new venture that will deliver two-way satellite Internet service to consumers. Microsoft will invest $50 million in the venture, Gilat-to-Home, for a 26 percent stake. The software giant says it will contribute technology and ongoing financial resources to the company. Gilat-at-Home already has begun trailing its service and expects to launch a broader rollout by the end of the year. The new company will be based in McLean, Virginia, and will be led by CEO Zur Feldman, the former executive vice president of operations at Packard Bell Electronics. Jon DeVaan, senior vice president in the consumer group at Microsoft, and Yoel Gat, chairman and CEO of Gilat Satellite Networks, will serve on the board. REMOTE ACCESS Microsoft officials said in a statement that the deal would help them give customers better broadband access, especially in rural areas. Analysts say many rural and suburban markets will not have access to terrestrial broadband technology for a number of years. According to Gilat-to-Home, somewhere between 14 million and 27 million U.S. homes still will be without access to broadband in 2004. Microsoft has been investing in a number of broadband deals lately. In November it led a $500 million round in Teligent (Nasdaq: TGNT), which delivers high-speed Internet services from base-station antennas to antennas mounted on its customers' buildings. Other prominent investments include AT & T (NYSE: T), which is making a play for the cable market, and Qwest Communications (NYSE: Q), which is building a high-speed fiber-optic network. According to Mr. Gat, Gilat-to-Home closed the deal with Microsoft because it was looking for a partner with strong brand recognition in the consumer market. "We?ve said from the outset that one of the most important aspects for launching Gilat-to-Home is finding a strong Internet brand that would provide rapid access to the consumer," he says. Gilat-to-Home is one of a number of new ventures hoping to provide broadband Internet access to consumers and businesses underserved by digital subscriber line (DSL) and cable companies. Many new companies operate their satellites on Ka-band, a high frequency that allows small spot beams, rather than a single continental beam. Spot beams boost the communications capacity because many beams can be transmitted at the same frequency as long as they are aimed at different parts of the country. Gilat-to-Home's first satellite will be delivered on the more common Ku-band frequency. According to the company, however, it does plan to offer Ka-band satellites in the future. Like its competitors, Gilat-to-Home also claims its prices will be comparable to other broadband services -- DSL and cable -- which rapidly are dropping toward zero. Right now, the company plans to offer tiered services at different prices. At market-entry price, the service will have download speeds up to 400 Kbps, though its upload speeds will reach only 56 Kbps. Discuss startup companies and venture capital in the Rising Startups discussion in our Private Companies discussion forum. Or visit the forums home page.

To: leo_bloom who wrote (10160)	2/18/2000 10:17:00 AM
From: Rocket Scientist	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29987

Globalstar PR out is out regarding opening of Venezuela GW earlier this week... The most interesting part, for me: "In addition to the Venezuela gateway, TE.SA.M. also owns and already operates Globalstar gateways in France and Argentina, and will open gateways in Peru, Turkey and Senegal within the next few months." This is interesting, because the TESAM Argentina web site hasn't been updated for months and a search of an online Argentine newspaper archive shows the last reference to Globalstar a similarly long time ago. It's also news to me (but encouraging) that Tesam will be operating a GW in Senegal. Full text of PR was posted on Yahoo G* thread by smackdown3341, Msg 26819