Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : Motorola (MOT) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Walter Liu who wrote (983)	4/20/1998 11:18:00 AM
From: Ed Diaz	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3436

I pulled this off of the Teledesic site. For those of us who missed Iridium this may be something to keep our eyes on. Also on the site was news that Saudi Prince Alwaheed (sp.) has just invested $200MM in the venture. He is known to be a very savvy investor. Best of luck to all. Fast Facts The Company Teledesic is building a global, broadband "Internet-in-the-Sky." Using a constellation of 288 low-Earth-orbit satellites, Teledesic will create the world's first network to provide affordable, worldwide, "fiber-like" access to telecommunications services such as broadband Internet access, videoconferencing, high-quality voice and other digital data needs. On Day One of service, Teledesic will enable broadband telecommunications access for businesses, schools and individuals everywhere on the planet. Timeline 1990 Company founded 1994 Initial system design completed; FCC application filed 1997 FCC license granted; Boeing selected prime as contractor 1999 Start pre-production activities 2000 Full-scale production 2001 First satellite launch 2002 Constellation becomes operational Principal Shareholders Teledesic, founded in 1990, represents the vision of its chairman, telecommunications pioneer Craig McCaw, and is backed by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates and The Boeing Company. Boeing, the world's largest aerospace company, will lead the international industrial team to manufacture and launch the satellite constellation, which will be in service in 2002. Teledesic is privately funded. Customers Teledesic will develop alliances with service provider partners in countries worldwide, rather than marketing directly to end-users. Teledesic will enable service providers to extend their networks, both in terms of geographic scope and in the kinds of services they can offer. Network Capacity/Access Speeds The Teledesic Network is designed to support millions of simultaneous users. Teledesic will offer a family of user equipment to access the network. Most users will have two-way connections that provide up to 64 Mbps on the downlink and up to 2 Mbps on the uplink. Higher-speed terminals will offer 64 Mbps or greater of two-way capacity. This represents access speeds more than 2,000 times faster than today's standard analog modems. User Equipment The Teledesic Network's low orbit eliminates the long signal delay normally experienced in satellite communications and enables the use of small, low-power terminals and antennas. The laptop-size terminals will mount flat on a rooftop and connect inside to a computer network or PC. Cost Design, production and deployment of the Teledesic Network will cost $9 billion. End-user rates will be set by service providers, but Teledesic expects rates to be comparable to those of future urban wireline services for broadband access. Regulatory Approval Teledesic cleared its last significant regulatory hurdle when the International Telecommunication Union's 1997 World Radiocommunication Conference in November 1997 finalized its designation of international radio spectrum for use by non-geostationary fixed satellite services, such as those Teledesic will provide. The Federal Communications Commission licensed Teledesic in March 1997. Frequencies Teledesic will operate in the high-frequency Ka-band of the radio spectrum (28.6 - 29.1 GHz uplink and 18.8 - 19.3 GHz downlink). # of Satellites 288 plus spares Employees. Approximately 100 and growing Headquarters Kirkland, Washington, a suburb of Seattle; offices in Washington, D.C., and Ottawa 3/16/98

To: Walter Liu who wrote (983)	4/21/1998 10:33:00 PM
From: Time Traveler	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 3436

I absolutely agree with you that data communication is it. We should not even consider voice only systems. That is why after knowing more about Iridium, the more I am disappointed, granted this system was the grand-daddy of all, of its kind. To be more specific, I do not like the following two things about this project: - The system was designed for voice communication. That means low capacity data transmission. With exponential growth in amount of data that is required to be transmitted every second, this system is already obsolete as we speak. - The capacity or customer base is somewhat shallow. Only a handful of the elite can get accounts with this system. However, I do like the LEO (low earth orbit) approach. I would bet on LEO rather than MEO (above Van Allen Belt) any day. Time Traveler