To: dougjn who wrote (560 ) 4/4/1998 5:20:00 PM From: Edgar Maven Read Replies (2) | Respond to
There is a very interesting disclosure which shows up in IRIDF's form 10-k filed with the SEC last week. Specifically, on page 3 of Exhibit 99 the following statement is made relating to the potential limitation of acceptance by consumers of the Iridium product: "Only extremely limited satellite voice service, or no satellite voice service, is expected to be available in densely packed urban environments or inside buildings with steel construction and metal coated glass common in many urban high rise buildings (including, in particular, in most hotels and professional buildings)." A disclosure statement similar to the above has been made in previous IRIDF SEC filings but the parenthetical language appears to be completely new. I travel overseas a great deal and had originally been captivated at the idea of a global go anywhere phone -- to read that the company itself is saying the satellite service won't work in "most" of the places I spend most of my time is highly troubling. I know the company's response to this is that local cellular service will fill in some of these areas but, the fact is, it doesn't sound like IRIDF is going to deliver the go anywhere phone I was looking for -- especially given the big holes in their local cellular coverage and the need for multiple modules to access different cellular standards. I continue to be intrigued by the countless engineering feats embedded in the Iridium project, unfortunately, I have very real concerns about the amount of real demand for the product given the above limitations. The project is reminiscent of the ill-fated Chunnel, i.e., the English Channel tunnel, where billions were spent on a project predicated on numerous consumer surveys that said the demand for the project would be there only to find upon completion that the consumer surveys were wildly wrong and the equity investors in the project were wiped out -- I hope this isn't the fate of Iridium but it sure feels like its time to take my profits here and move on.
