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Technology Stocks : Loral Space & Communications -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Snake who wrote (1584)	12/11/1997 4:05:00 PM
From: Snake	Respond to of 10852

Article on SkyBridge. SkyBridge Looks For Partners In $3.5 Bln Satellite Project LONDON (AP-Dow Jones)--With demand for telecoms network bandwidth capacity nearly doubling every three months, a global race is on to service one of the fastest growing commercial markets of the late 1990s. On current trends, early in the next century well over 90% of total telecommunications network traffic will be data, including Internet services, with the remainder being traditional voice traffic. SkyBridge LP, a startup interactive broadband communications operator controlled by France's Alcatel Alsthom SA (F.ALA), plans to invest$3.5 billion to service this market. Its aim is to launch a constellation of 64 satellites during 2001-2002 to provide Internet access for up to 15 million residential and business customers. From its conception last year, SkyBridge has signed up partners including Loral Space & Communications Corp. (LOR), Toshiba Corp. (J.TOS), Mitsubishi Electric Corp. (J.MBE), Aerospatiale Spa (F.ASP) and Spar Aerospace Ltd. (T.SPZ). Pascal Sourisse, CEO of the Washington D.C.-based company, told Dow Jones Newswires Thursday that the project has also had crucial frequency allocations clarified by the International Telecommunications Union and made progress on developing system specifications. The next phase of the project is to bring in additional equity partners in a dozen or more countries that will market SkyBridge directly to customers. This will require a further $1.0 billion to be invested in gateways to access the satellite network. Sourisse envisages selling $700 terminals, equipped with two-way antennae for interactive communication with the satellite network. These units will be connectable to video displays and computers. Access is expected to sell for $30-$40 per month with SkyBridge expecting to receive a wholesale fee of around 40% of the retail price. The system is designed to deliver 20 megabit per second Internet download capacity and two megabit per second uplink access through a gateway. SkyBridge also expects to offer some voice network capacity primarily in underdeveloped countries. Due to hyper demand growth for bandwidth, Sourisse isn't worried about competing satellite systems. One competitor is Teledesic Corp., in which Microsoft Corp. billionaire Bill Gates and mobile phone mogul Craig Mccaw each hold 35% interests. Another competitor, Iridium World Communications is also building a satellite-based wireless ommunications network. Sourisse stressed that Alcatel is fully committed to the project but declined to put a figure on how much the company is prepared to finance of the estimated $3.5 billion cost. Analysts note that Alcatel, which is to float half its holding in GEC-Alsthom in 1998 for about $1.65 billion, holds sufficient cash resources to fund SkyBridge for a substantial period of time.