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

To: Dragonfly who wrote (627)	3/30/1998 2:43:00 PM
From: Valueman	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29987

Dragonfly: Initial orders are for 38 gateways, not 30. They will have a total of 50 to 60 eventually--they do not need 200. Agreements between countries has lessened the need for everyone having his own gateway. If you feel this way about G, I would advise you dump your Loral because a great deal of Loral appreciation will have to come from a successful G.

To: Dragonfly who wrote (627)	3/30/1998 2:59:00 PM
From: Valueman	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29987

In regards to pricing, these #'s seem to differ from the NYT article. Notice that even an Iridium-to-Iridium call will be hugely expensive. For a call from Japan to China, Iridium phone to Iridium phone, it will be $6.59! Hell, talk a half hour and you could just buy a plane ticket and fly there: TOKYO, JAPAN, 1998 MAR 29 (NB) -- By Martyn Williams, Newsbytes. With three quarters of its 66 satellite network already in place and launch of the remaining craft due shortly, Nippon Iridium, the Japanese operator of the Iridium service, has announced its proposed services and charges. The company said it will offer two basic satellite-based services, one telephony and one paging, and plans to begin service on September 23. Charges for both services will be levied in U.S. dollars. For the telephony service, two basic versions will be offered. The international service allows users to make and receive calls anywhere in the world while the Japan service restricts use to Japan-only, although users can make and receive international telephone calls. Subscribers to both services will have twelve digit telephone numbers, beginning with 8816 for international plan users and 8817 for domestic plan users. Users will pay an initial joining fee of 10,000 yen ($77) and a monthly basic charge of $50, before call charges. Calls from Japanese telephones and cellular telephones to Iridium units will cost a flat $6.54 per minute for calls to international plan subscribers, with 8816 numbers, and $2.61 per minute for calls to domestic plan subscribers, with 8817 numbers. Calls from Iridium telephones are determined by several charging structure, depending on where the telephone is being used and who is being called. For calls between Iridium telephones, calls to domestic plan subscribers will cost $2.67 per minute, while calls to international plan subscribers will be based on where the call is being made from, within a 16-zone system. Within Japan, calls will cost $5.31 per minute. Other charges vary, from the most expensive $6.59 per minute from China to the cheapest $4.64 from North America. Calls from Iridium telephones to fixed line or conventional cellular telephones will cost $1.67, for domestic plan subscribers, and be based on a zone system for international users. While inside Japan, charges will range from $8.11 per minute, for calls to central Africa to $4.52 for calls to Asia. International plan subscribers calling within Japan will be charged $1.64 per minute and other charges will be levied when international plan subscribers make calls from other countries. A further set of charges apply when Iridium telephones are being used on roaming networks. The handsets will be dual-mode, capable of being used with terrestrial cellular services, only defaulting to the satellite service when out of the range of a local signal. When on roaming networks, calls will be charged at the local rate for international calls, plus an Iridium roaming surcharge of between $1.07 and $2.04 per minute for calls to fixed line or cellular telephones. For calls from roaming networks to Iridium telephones, charges will range from $8.71 to $7.73 per minute. The paging service will cost $100 per month, or $30 per month when combined with the cellular telephony service.

To: Dragonfly who wrote (627)	3/30/1998 3:17:00 PM
From: dougjn	Respond to of 29987

The initial 38 Gateway Coverage of the GSTRF system covers virtually the entire world. (It does by the way cover virtually all of far, far north Canada, contrary to some claims, and even covers Iceland and the inhabitated south coastal part of Greenland. It covers virtually everywhere the world fishing fleets customarily go, for example. It covers virtually all of Siberia, except a small far north central sliver which is, I believe, uninhabited and not the subject of much exploration either.) The principal holes are a part of eastern-central Africa, centered on Kenya and Uganda, and the Indian Ocean south of the Seychelles. (Even world sailors rarely go into that part of the roaring 40s Indian ocean, round the world racers excepted. It ain't on the East to West trades route.) (Also, I would imagine that the African hole will get plugged before too long.) The Caribbean, all of Central and South America and the Atlantic (with the exception of a small hole(which is on few commercial shipping routes but is on the trade wind sailing route from the Cape Verde islands to the Caribbean) are all completely covered. The principal current coverages holes of some moment to a prospective circumnavigating trade routes sailor are 1) much of Indonesia (though not Thailand, Malaysia, etc. etc.) and 2) much of the mid-Pacific, including most of the South Pacific islands, such as Tahiti, etc., etc. Since the cost of a (relatively low capacity) ground station starts at only about $1.5-2 million, I imagine both those holes will get plugged pretty soon. Doug