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

To: Jim Parkinson who wrote (15325)	8/3/2000 5:30:04 PM
From: Souze	Respond to of 29987

Hey, nobody's perfect. Not looking for perfection (not that I think that you thought I was). Thanks for the update.

To: Jim Parkinson who wrote (15325)	8/3/2000 6:08:57 PM
From: Noel de Leon	Respond to of 29987

This sounds like a non-technical managerial decision to use a non-marine system in a marine environment. There's just too much experience out there with salt water and electronics to have allowed that kind of mistake. Hope who ever was responsible got fired. Worse yet is that G*'s problems could well be poor management on the technical as well as the marketing side.

To: Jim Parkinson who wrote (15325)	8/3/2000 6:21:12 PM
From: Noel de Leon	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29987

Jim; I found this on the QCOM board See my comment at the end. Loral Up 8% As Co. Allays Fears Over Globalstar Dow Jones Newswires By Laura Elizabeth Pohl Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES NEW YORK -- Investors applauded news from Loral Space & Communications Ltd. (LOR) that it won't sacrifice itself to save troubled satellite phone company Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd. (GSTRF), in which it owns 40%. Banc of America analyst Armand Musey said that in a company conference call Wednesday to discuss second-quarter results, Chief Executive Bernard Schwartz repeatedly said he won't take money from Loral to rejuvenate Globalstar. "He allayed some of those fears," Musey said. According to Musey, Schwartz assured listeners that other Globalstar partners - which include Qualcomm Inc. (QCOM), China Telecom Ltd. (CHL), and DaimlerChrysler AG's (DCX) aerospace unit - will infuse Globalstar with cash. C.E. Unterberg Towbin analyst William Kidd wrote in a morning research note that Schwartz said the additional financing will be sooner than expected and will keep Globalstar afloat until its cash flow is positive. For the second quarter, Globalstar reported net losses of $208.9 million. For the second quarter, Globalstar again dragged down Loral's results, this time to a loss of 37 cents a share, 14 cents better than First Call/Thomson Financial's consensus estimate. The company recorded a net loss of $93.9 million, with a $102 million loss from Globalstar partially offset by a $38 million gain in investments. Loral shares recently changed hands at 6 7/16, up 17/32, or 9%, on volume of 2.6 million. Average daily volume is 2.4 million. Globalstar was up 3/16, or 2.4%, at 7 7/8. Volume was 1 million, versus a daily average of 3.4 million. The odds are against Globalstar to bring satellite phone service to the masses. Attempts by Iridium LLC (IRIDQ) and ICO Global Communications Ltd. (ICOFQ) failed, and both companies filed for bankruptcy in August 1999. "Satellite telephony is a hard push," said Musey of Banc of America. "Ultimately people believe there's a market for satellite telephony, but you have to get the price right and you have to get the convenience level right." Currently, a satellite call costs between $1.30 to $3 a minute, while cell phone calls can be had for as little as 10 cents a minute. But Jeanette Clonan, Loral vice president, said satellite phones are a different animal than cell phones, and the two shouldn't be compared with each other. "Globalstar is attempting to replace previous types of satellite phones, not cell phones," Clonan said. The standard satellite phone now is an Inmarsat phone, which is about the size of a computer. The phones rely on geosynchronous technology, meaning "the satellites that connect phone calls are fixed in the Earth's atmosphere"; they move with the Earth's rotation. Therefore Inmarsat users must point the phone receiver to the position in the sky where the satellite is located. Globalstar phones, on the other hand, depend on a low Earth orbit (LEO) system of satellites. These 48 satellites are about 700 miles-800 miles from Earth and orbit around the planet. Antennas on Globalstar phones are always in touch with about 3 satellites at the same time, and users can move around without losing the connection. In addition, Globalstar phones are about the size of a cordless home phone. According to Clonan, the Globalstar phones are particularly useful in situations where a land line or cell phone isn't available or working. Potential markets include large countries like Australia, China, Mexico and Brazil. In Australia, Vodafone AirTouch PLC (VOD) is marketing the Globalstar phone as the first and only national phone service. As of July 19, Globalstar had over 13,000 mobile satellite telephone customers. -Laura Elizabeth Pohl, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5392, laura.pohl@dowjones.com Briefing Book for: CHL \| DCX \| G.DMC \| GSTRF \| H.CMO \| LOR \| N.EAD \| QCOM The section in quotes is interesting and supports my theory that there is something wrong at the technical management level.

To: Jim Parkinson who wrote (15325)	8/3/2000 6:40:59 PM
From: Selectric II	Respond to of 29987

Another example of G's typical pi* poor planning. Any saltwater boater can tell you that marine electronics, even simple stereos, have to be corrosion-protected. Why didn't they ask a boater. It's as if these guys are bumbling and stumbling at every single turn. I can't wait for them to attribute the slow rollout of fixed phones to the fact that after several failed attempts, they just realized they need a power source for the phones. Long and loathing.

To: Jim Parkinson who wrote (15325)	8/4/2000 7:37:17 PM
From: Michaelth1	Respond to of 29987

They initially tried to use the car kits but discovered that the car kits didn't like salt water. I am sure there is a little more to it than that but that was part of the issue. If I recall correctly, in one of BLS early, post-"launch" conf. calls, he discussed how G* was surprised at how interested small boaters were in G. He expressed how G did not even consider them a market (they had planned to address much larger boats/ships). The small boaters took it upon themselves (it seemed) to use the car kits on the boat BECAUSE G* DID NOT CONSIDER THEM A MARKET and therefore didn't offer them any kind of kit to maximize G's effectiveness on small boats. So, in G's defense, they didn't plan the product incorrectly (i.e., using the car kits for saltwater boats); but they did ENTIRELY MISS what they are now considering a key segment of their target market. If I remember correctly, BLS disclosed this gaffe at the same time that he acknowledged that G* had paid almost no attention to accessory (e.g., car kit) pricing prior to the launch. Imo, this is another case of G* management missing some low hanging fruit (the boaters) by not properly understanding their market. What seems fairly obvious to many catches G* management by surprise all too often.