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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Skeeter Bug who wrote (88290)	3/31/2001 5:38:18 PM
From: Ilaine	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 436258

When Iridium was in Chapter 11 I read the filings online because the bankruptcy court in New York has every page online. My recollection is that I calculated that it cost Motorola between $1 million and $3 million a month to keep the constellation operational. SI advanced search isn't working, and I don't feel like redoing the math. At any rate, that's close enough. The Department of Defense gave them a $72 million, 24 month base contract for a minimum number of users, and it goes up when the number of users exceeds the base. So I think they are good to go for a couple of years. >>way too many alternatives that are more than good enough<< The Department of Defense doesn't agree with you. >>the folks that make up 99.9%+ of the untapped market can't afford the phone and the service<< I doubt that you realize how much the per capita GDP has grown over the last five years in China and India, for example. Be that as it may, the business model that works is for the phone buyer to have a central location, like a store, and let people line up to use the phone. It's being done right now. Entrepeneurs have phone kiosks.

To: Skeeter Bug who wrote (88290)	3/31/2001 5:52:07 PM
From: Ilaine	Respond to of 436258

For anyone who is interested in satellite technology in the Third World, do yourself a favor and go to the video store and rent "The Cup." It's about some Tibetan kids who are refugees in a Buddhist temple in Bhutan, who want to watch the World Soccer Cup, and persuade the monks to let them rent a satellite dish and a TV. Maybe too boring for those who don't like foreign films, not an action-packed shoot-em-up, but if you like "The Gods Must Be Crazy" you'll probably like "The Cup."