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To: Rocket Scientist who wrote (4197)	8/9/1998 11:05:00 PM
From: Bernard Levy	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 10852

Hi Rocket Scientist: There are a few differences between Skystation and Cyberstar/Skybridge or Teledesic. First, there is time to market. Cyberstar/Skybridge will start operations in 99, 2 years ahead of SkyStation. Obviously, when customers find a service with which they are happy, they do not look around. Second, as you point out, satellite systems will cover rural areas. Finally, there are lots of uses for which satellites are ideal, such as multicasting and services for international corporations with operations in several continents. Concerning the demand for broadband, it is huge. Keep in mind that data traffic passed telephony traffic across IXC backbones a few years ago. This traffic keeps growing at a phenomenal rate (I think that George Gilder has extremely striking statistics in several of his reports). However, even satellite systems are not a slam dunk. They will be facing fierce competition from fiber based CLECs, wireless CLECS, and companies deploying either cable or xDSL for the last mile. While I am quite convinced that satellite telephony systems such as G* will be successful, I am slightly more guarded about satellite data systems, although since Cyberstar/Skybridge will be first to market, it will be best positioned. However, if there is one thing I am sure of, it is that SkyStation does not stand a chance. It has targeted urban markets where competitions will be fiercest, and where there will be many strong competitors with a two or three years lead. And I am not even mentioning the technical feasibility of the blimp system. Best regards, Bernard Levy