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

To: Jon Koplik who wrote (13808)	6/23/2000 1:59:00 AM
From: Jon Koplik	Respond to of 29986

WSJ article about G* / News Corp / airline thing. (Sorry if already posted). June 22, 2000 News Corp. Group to Offer Web Service for Air Travelers By ANDY PASZTOR Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL The competition to offer e-mail and Internet connections to airline passengers heated up significantly Wednesday, with Globalstar Telecommunications LP and Qualcomm Inc. joining a News Corp.-led venture to promote such services. The announcement comes less than two months after Boeing Co. announced formation of a separate international joint venture -- including Loral Space & Communications Ltd. and Japan's Mitsubishi group -- aimed at providing similar services to basically the same markets. At the same time, a number of smaller rivals are trying to stake out a niche in this anticipated fast-growing segment of airborne communications, which by some estimates could produce more than $50 billion in world-wide revenue over the next decade. The latest inflight network seeks to combine Globalstar's constellation of low, earth-orbit satellites with Qualcomm's transmission and switching technology to provide seamless and rapid access to e-mail, paging, Internet and even voice messaging. The goal is to provide commercial-airline passengers, as well as those aboard corporate aircraft, with such services without first having to install extensive new equipment on aircraft or wait for launches of additional satellites. News Corp. officials hope their system can be rolled out more quickly than the one proposed by Boeing, which is based on much higher-orbit satellites. A Boeing spokesman said rivals are "constructing quick responses to Boeing's offering," but the Seattle aerospace company remains convinced its proposed system is "peerless." Jeffrey Wales, a senior News Corp. vice president, said his venture is still seeking potential partners among airlines, Internet providers and other telecommunications companies. The fourth member of the venture is a unit of Rockwell International Corp., a major supplier of airborne entertainment systems. For Globalstar, conceived primarily as a satellite-telephone service, the alliance means a much-needed boost at an important juncture. Suddenly, there is the potential for a steady and robust revenue source stemming from data transmission. "It's a terrific opportunity for us [that] opens up a whole new market" and demonstrates "the potency" of Globalstar's world-wide mobile reach, said Chairman Bernard Schwartz. Wednesday's move also amounts to a public sign of confidence by major telecommunications concerns about the long-term viability of Globalstar, which many on Wall Street have tended to write off as a failure or a major disappointment. Write to Andy Pasztor at andy.pasztor@wsj.com Copyright ¸ 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.