Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 1, 1995 TAG: 9502010061
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
A new world of untethered communications moved a crucial step forward Tuesday when federal regulators gave permission to three companies to provide two-way phone, fax and other services using low-orbiting satellites.
Unlike conventional satellites that orbit more than 20,000 miles in space, the new services will use satellites that orbit closer to Earth, from 400 to 6,000 miles away.
The orbits will be low enough for people on the ground to use special hand-held phones and other devices to send and receive calls, messages, pages and other services.
The Federal Communications Commission approved the applications of Iridium, TRW Inc. and Loral Cellular Systems Corp.-Qualcomm Partnership, said FCC Chairman Reed Hundt.
``We're adding a lane to the information superhighway,'' Hundt said in an interview.
The three companies will compete with existing cellular and paging companies as well as new companies that obtain licenses to provide an array of wireless services called personal communications.
The most expensive venture, the $3.4 billion Iridium project, plans to use 66 satellites to deliver national - and eventually global - voice, data and paging services.
Companies need to obtain regulatory approval from each of the countries they want to serve, Hundt said.
U.S. and foreign telecommunications companies - including Motorola Inc., Sprint Corp., Italy's Telecom Italia, Bell Canada and a consortium of Japanese companies including DDI Corp. - are backing the Iridium venture.
Iridium plans to begin service in the United States by 1998, said spokesman John Windolph.
Lockheed, Raytheon and Motorola are building the satellites now and contracts for their launch have already been signed, he said.
To receive the service, people will have to buy new hand-held portable phones and other devices. People will be charged about $3 a minute, Windolph said.
The Loral venture plans to use 48 satellites to provide national and eventually worldwide communications service, including data, fax and messaging.
Partners in the $1.8 billion venture include France's Alcatel and Germany's Deutsche Aerospace.
TRW said it expects to provide phone, data and fax service in the United States in 1999 and worldwide service later.
The $2 billion project will use 12 satellites that are being designed by a division of TRW.
The FCC's action comes as companies race to build the multimillion-dollar satellite systems.
According to the Personal Communications Industry Association, 4.11 million Americans, about 1.4 percent of the projected U.S. population, will subscribe by 2003 to satellite-delivered communications services.
The applications of Constellation Communications Inc. and Mobile Communications Holdings Inc. didn't meet the FCC's financial qualifications and were turned down, Hundt said.
He said the companies have until next January to show the agency that they have raised sufficient capital for the ventures.
by CNB