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 : LAST MILE TECHNOLOGIES - Let's Discuss Them Here -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Tim McCormick who wrote (1862)	8/9/1998 12:34:00 PM
From: Frank A. Coluccio	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 12823

Tim, I don't know if you recall the first time this subject was introduced here in SI, but Skystation was the medium for quite a bit of good-humored discussion and banter. Not only were the cast of players the item of discussion, but amidst the emerging promise of WDM and polarized deployments of reusable bandwidth on the Earth's surface, the whole idea of an Hindenberg-like contender for the last mile struck at everyone's funny bone. Well, I guess that has changed. A look at one of Skystation's recent press releases clearly indicates that they are a serious player. The following talks about their industrial team effort, and lists some of the international suppliers they are working with. Other press releases at... wwwskystation.com ...demonstrate that they are cultivating markets on a global scale. Does anyone have an opinion as to the viability of this approach to the last mile? Frank C. ----------------Press Release: Sky Station International 1824 R Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 USA 1.202.518.0900 fax 1.202.518.0802 www.skystation.com Stratosphere Internet Project Launched With Global Industrial Team WASHINGTON, D.C.; PARIS, FRANCE; ROME, ITALY -- April 23, 1998 -- Sky Station International, Inc., an emerging provider of low-cost broadband Internet capacity via stratospheric platforms announced today the official launch of its global industrial team with the signing of an agreement with Aerospatiale SNI of France for Phase B design and development of Sky Station International's platforms. The team also includes Alenia Spazio/Finmeccanica of Italy as the primary payload developer; Dornier Satellitensysteme GmbH in Germany - a corporate unit of Daimler-Benz Aerospace - as the supplier for several critical subsystems; COMSAT Laboratories of Maryland as communications network integrator; Thomson-CSF Communications of France as gateway earth station manufacturer and payload sub-contractor; United Solar Systems Corp. of Michigan as supplier of lightweight photovoltaic modules; and Stanford Telecom of California as one of the contractors for user terminals. All of these companies' efforts will be coordinated by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), who will provide end-to-end system integration. The entire project is valued at $2.5 billion for a worldwide broadband infrastructure via Sky Station International's innovative stratospheric platforms. "I am extremely proud of the global industrial team we have assembled for this historic project," said General Alexander M. Haig, Jr., a Sky StationT founder and Chairman of the Sky Station International Advisory Board. "This world-class industrial team represents a tour de force of business acumen and technology leadership that will deliver broadband information access to a billion households worldwide in the early years of the next decade. I am thrilled to be a part of it." Rene Pellat, currently High Commissioner of the French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and Chairman Emeritus of Sky Station France said, "This announcement marks a new beginning for commercial partnerships between France and the United States. French Industry will be a full partner in the development of this new technology as well as in the commercial success of each new application delivered by the platforms. I am proud to have been a part of the process which brought Sky Station International to France." On behalf of Alenia Spazio's Chairman, Giuseppe Viriglio stated, "From the beginning, Alenia Spazio has believed in the technical validity and the great potential for the Sky StationT project. The participation of Aerospatiale lays the foundation today for a tripartite cooperation among industrial organizations in the United States, France and Italy in an important technological initiative rich with promises for the future." Sky Station International has pioneered technology enabling a solar powered lighter-than-air platform to remain stationary in the stratosphere. A telecommunications system onboard each Sky StationT stratospheric platform delivers high-speed wireless communications (T-1 and E-1) directly to millions of subscribers within its 1,000 kilometer diameter footprint. Sky Station International's stratospheric telecommunications system is scheduled for launch in 2001 with the deployment of platforms 21 kilometers above each of the world's major metropolitan areas. Worldwide regulatory approval for the use of stratospheric platforms was granted by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in November 1997 and by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) earlier that year. National authorities have already filed registrations with the ITU for over 50 Sky StationT platforms. For further information please contact: Liza Kupczak, Corporate Communications Director, Sky Station International, Inc. 1824 R Street, NW Washington, DC 20009 USA phone: +1 202.518.0900 Leo Savarese, Head of Business Development, Alenia Aerospazio Managing Director of Sky Station Italia S.P.A. phone: +39 6 4151 2860 fax: + 39 6 4151 2423