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

To: Dragonfly who wrote (1086)	5/22/1998 1:16:00 AM
From: HammerHead	Read Replies (3) \| Respond to of 3436

New York, May 21 (Bloomberg) -- Motorola Inc. said it will end its $12.9 billion Celestri satellite project and invest about $750 million in rival Teledesic LLC in a little understood industry. Following are some basic questions about the satellite industry. Q.: How do satellites work? A.: Satellites typically orbit around the earth and handle thousands of tasks. Its payload may include antennas, cameras, radar and electronics equipment, while the bus carries the payload into space. The bus holds the parts, communication equipment and computers, while providing electrical power and propulsion. Satellites communicate or deliver voice, data, video or all three from one place to another. Satellites are being used to transmit signals for television, radio, pagers, wireless phones, and Internet communication. Q.: Which are the biggest companies in the U.S.? A.: General Motors' Hughes Electronics Corp., which owns PanAmSat Corp., Loral Space & Communications Ltd. and General Electric Co. are the three largest, Berge Ayvazian, executive vice president of the Yankee Group, a telecommunications research and consultant company in Boston. The major companies entering the industry in the last three years include Boeing Co., Lockheed Martin Corp., Motorola Inc. and Teledesic LLC. Motorola owns 21 percent of Iridium LLC. Q.: How do the companies' satellite networks differ? A.: Iridium's system provides cellular phone service throughout the world, similar to Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd.'s network. Globalstar is 38 percent-owned by Loral. The Teledesic system links computer networks, provides high-speed Internet access, videoconferencing and other services, similar to the proposed SkyBridge network, being built by France's Alcatel- Alsthom SA and Loral. Q.: How do the satellites' orbits differ? A.: A geosynchronous orbit, known as a ''geo,'' means a satellite stays over one spot like the U.S., and orbits at about 22,500 miles above sea level. While a low-earth orbiting satellite or ''leo,'' orbits at under 1,000 miles and travels over a broad path. Most satellites now in service, such as PanAmSat's, are geos that provides services like paging and broadcasting. The new satellite systems like Globalstar, Iridium, Teledesic and SkyBridge will use leo orbits because they provide faster connections as they are closer to earth. Q.: How fast will the satellite industry grow? A.: Industry revenue is projected to climb 17 percent annually to $171 billion in 2007, from an estimated $38 billion in 1997, according to Merrill Lynch & Co. Q.: What areas do satellite systems serve? A.: Satellite systems serve domestic or international areas. Domestic systems provide communication within countries, while international systems provide service between countries. ''Most of the focus on future satellite systems are global,'' Ayvazian said. ''Companies are looking to serve parts of the world where there isn't much telecommunications infrastructure.''