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.

Microcap & Penny Stocks : Globalstar Telecommunications Limited GSAT -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: djane who wrote (3407)	3/15/1999 9:03:00 PM
From: Maurice Winn	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 29987

Soft handoff testing Globalstar needs enough satellites up to test handoff from one satellite to another as a handset passes under the constellation and the constellation spins around the earth. There will be up to 4 satellite in sight and the software needs to choose which satellite should handle the call. While there were only 12 satellites in view, there was only sporadic contact with a handset and while handoff might have worked from one satellite to another, working when there are more in view would be more tricky. I suppose that is the reason anyway. It would involve software writing and maybe electronic gizzards in the gateways as well. That's one of the advantages of Globalstar = the electronic gizzards are on the ground and upgrades can be plugged in. They can't do that with Iridium which keeps the gizzards in the sky. All they can change is software. With 16 satellites, Globalstar could start selling handsets and letting people use the satellites when they are available. A sort of beta testing. Maybe handsets aren't available and call forwarding isn't ready so that might be premature. But I hope they do start as soon as they can. There is no need for a GRAND OPENING CEREMONY. Maurice

To: djane who wrote (3407)	3/15/1999 11:49:00 PM
From: djane	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 29987

*AirTouch to launch ad campaign in 3 weeks. Branding effort will focus on promise keeping (via qcom thread) By Stephanie O'Brien, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 7:19 PM ET Mar 15, 1999 Also: NewsWatch NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- Wireless telcommunications company AirTouch Communications promises to launch an advertising campaign in about three weeks aimed at boosting brand recognition. The campaign will focus on promises -- and their delivery -- to customers, the company's chief executive, Sam Ginn, told investors Monday at Merrill Lynch's annual telecommunications CEO conference. Ginn called the existing wireless market "busy, confused and promotional." AirTouch (ATI) seeks to distinguish itself and will use the ads to demonstrate the ways in which it does, Ginn said. In January, Britain's Vodafone Group Plc said it had agreed to buy AirTouch, topping a bid by rival Bell Atlantic (BEL), in a cash-and-stock deal valued at about $62 billion. See archived story. The transaction, which creates the world's largest cellular-phone company, ended a battle for control of San Francisco-based AirTouch. AirTouch shares fell 1 11/16 Monday to close at 92 5/16. Customer service The ads will focus on customer service. In January, AirTouch signed a contract with Campbell Mithun Esty, a Minneapolis-based ad agency, according to Jonathan Marshall, an AirTouch spokesman. The firm will "centralize the [AirTouch] brand, products and promotional advertising," Marshall said. The new campaign's list of promises includes a welcome call to all new customers within 30 days. It'll also highlight a customer-service program under which AirTouch customers would deal with a single representative who would take ownership of a problem until it's resolved, Ginn said. The ads will also showcase AirTouch's "no regrets" policy, which allows customers to transfer from one calling plan to another, and a "dropped call" guarantee, which gives customers credit when a call is cut off. Little churn In 1998, AirTouch's customer-service program helped the company keep its churn rate -- the number customers leaving the network -- down to about 2 percent, the company boasts on its Web site. Also on the subject of advertising, Ginn said he was "kind of fed up with all the hype surrounding the Internet," and he sought to make the case that wireless communications is a bigger market, with slightly faster growth. Ginn said that, between 1996 and 1998, the number of wireless users grew to about 300 million worldwide, while the number of Internet users grew to roughly 110 million. The wireless telecommunications business model is superior to the Net's business model, which is advertising-based, Ginn said. "We send customers bills every month."