World Telecommunication Day 1999 |
In announcing the introduction of its mobile and fixed telephone service at Telecom 99 on Monday, Globalstar hopes to avoid the fate of Iridium, another satellite phone service heralded at Telecom four years ago.
Globalstar's chief executive officer, Bernard Schwartz, was careful to point out the differences between his company's approach and those of Iridium and ICO, two satellite phone companies that recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy-law protection. ''We have focused on providing a telephone service, not on hardware or software,'' Mr. Schwartz said at a press conference on Monday. He also noted that Globalstar sought out telephone operators as partners, ''so we had to meet exacting standards.'' Mr. Schwartz emphasized that Globalstar's services are ''priced affordably,'' because the company has sought to hold down costs on all aspects of its development.
Anthony Navarra, president of Globalstar, estimated that Globalstar will cost an average of 47 cents a minute of phone use, with costs to the end user of ''about $1.50 a minute.'' Variation by country is expected, however. Roaming charges will add about $3 a minute
Competition in satellite communications comes from another telecommunications exhibitor, Inmarsat, which held a press conference Monday to announce the full-scale development of 64 kilobit-a-second aero data services for airlines.
British Telecom Skyphone will be the first service provider offering this service, which makes it possible for passengers and flight crews to access the Internet and corporate intranets while in flight. British Airways, Swissair and Singapore Airlines will probably be offering an early version of this service by the beginning of the year.
Will passengers be willing to plug in their laptops on an airplane and send e-mail at $6.50 a minute or more? An Inmarsat executive noted that in-flight phones are costly but useful, saying: ''Data communications is growing by leaps and bounds on the ground. Why not in the air?''
Mobile data was also an underlying theme at a joint press conference by Hewlett-Packard (HP) and Agilent Technologies, a new company formed from the realignment of Hewlett-Packard. Agilent announced that it had developed (in cooperation with IBM) a design kit to help developers produce high-performance chips used in mobile phones and other communications products, meaning that new products can come to market faster. Agilent also announced the telecommunications industry's first test system able to perform ''true Internet-scale simulation'' needed for the high-speed routers that form fundamental blocks of the Internet.
The new chief executive officer of HP, Carly Fiorina, took the opportunity to define HP's telecommunications strength and strategy, rather than emphasizing specific company products. ''We'll lead in every market we enter,'' Ms. Fiorina said. ''If we don't have a good shot at winning the game, we won't play there.''
Claudia Flisi