Globalstar remains confident that there is a market for its global mobile satellite communication services, despite the recent collapse of competitor Iridium, which was declared bankrupt last month.
Iridium's demise was a result of inadequate marketing, excessively high prices and supply problems with its heavy and expensive telephones, with a service that did not work very well, says Globalstar.
The company says its prices are up to a quarter lower than those charged by Iridium. The system cost $3.3 billion to establish, with a capacity of 7.5 million users, whereas Iridium spent $6 billion on a service for 2 million users.
It believes it has a better marketing structure, established by experienced telecommunications specialists. Almost all of Iridium's service providers had little or no experience in telecoms and had to create a marketing structure from scratch, Globalstar argues.
Globalstar points to other advantages of its system compared with the Iridium, including its reliance on ground switching, rather than the inter-satellite linking used by Iridium, and its smaller and lighter handsets.
A total of 48 operational Globalstar satellites is in orbit.
Source: Flight International