(LOR) Globalstar Initiates Service in Scandinavia
RELATED SYMBOLS: (ALA)(DCX)(VOD)(LOR)
NEW YORK, Apr 5, 2000 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Globalstar, the global mobile telephone service, expanded earlier this week into Scandinavia with the initiation of service in Finland, Sweden and Denmark, and the company plans to add service in Norway and Lithuania in the weeks ahead. Today's announcement brings the total number of countries now within the Globalstar network to 34.
"The addition of these northern European countries to our business brings excellent opportunities for Globalstar in vertical industries such as forestry, maritime businesses, transportation and more," said Tony Navarra, president of
Globalstar. "Wireless satellite telephone service is now available across the region's remote land areas currently without cellular coverage, as well as throughout Scandinavian waterways and open seas."
The newly expanded service brings wireless telephony to all main land areas of the three countries, including the northernmost reaches of Finland and Sweden,
as well as to most of the Baltic Sea, a vital seaway for freight, fishing and passenger vessels which are frequently well outside the range of cellular systems. When service begins shortly in Norway, extensive areas of the North and
Norwegian Seas will also be covered, bringing service to even more maritime customers, including offshore oil exploration platforms.
The initiation of service in this region follows the February inauguration of the Globalstar gateway in Karkkila, Finland. This gateway already allows Globalstar phones equipped with a Radiolinja SIM-card to roam between the three Scandinavian countries now in service, and it will provide full roaming for all Globalstar phones to and from other active gateways in the next few weeks. The
Karkkila gateway also joins Globalstar gateways in Italy and France to complete the system's coverage across essentially all European countries, from Greece to
Portugal and as far north as the top of mainland Norway.
Globalstar service in Scandinavia is provided by Globalstar Northern Europe, a joint venture between Globalstar service provider partner Elsacom S.p.A. of
Italy and Oy Radiolinja Ab, one of Finland's largest cellular telephone providers. Founded in 1988, Radiolinja was the first company in the world to offer GSM cellular telephone service, beginning in 1991. The Radiolinja Group
has operations in Finland and Estonia.
Globalstar, led by founding partner Loral Space & Communications, is a partnership of the world's leading telecommunications service providers and equipment manufacturers, including co-founder Alenia, China Telecom (HK), DACOM, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, Elsacom (a Finmeccanica Company), Hyundai, Qualcomm Incorporated, TE.SA.M (a France Telecom/Alcatel company), Space Systems/Loral, and Vodafone AirTouch. For more information, visit Globalstar's web site at www.globalstar.com.
Loral Space & Communications (NYSE:LOR) is the managing partner and, at 40 percent, is the largest equity owner of Globalstar. Loral is a high technology company that concentrates primarily on satellite manufacturing and
satellite-based services, including broadcast transponder leasing and value-added services, domestic and international corporate data networks, global wireless telephony, broadband data transmission and content services, Internet services, and international direct-to-home satellite services. For more information, visit Loral's web site at www.loral.com.
Distributed via COMTEX.
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CONTACT: Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd.
Mac Jeffery, 212/338-5383
212/697-1105
Fax: 212/338-5662
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