Word: iridium
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...That's grim news, given the $17 billion U.S. taxpayers are spending on the Milstar satellite system. Maybe the Pentagon should consider using Iridium satphones instead. They're only $3,000 each...
Adhering to the mantra that simpler is better, cell phones and pagers have always had one primary function, respectively, but they got even better at it in 1998. The launch of Iridium's worldwide satellite paging and cellular-phone service was the flashiest advance, but the new low-cost calling plans (of just 10[cents] to 15[cents] a minute) on regular cell phones will do much more to increase their use. The Yankee Group predicts that these lower-priced calling plans will bump up average cell-phone usage, from three to five hours a month, by 2007. Pagers...
...price tag on the new lightweight satellite phones made by Kyocera and Motorola seems a bit high, globetrotters on tight budgets might consider Iridium's $500 Go Anywhere pager instead. When Iridium's 66-satellite network becomes operational--which is supposed to happen next month--the little pager will receive messages anywhere in the world. Usage fees aren't set, but could be $50 to $100 a month...
...technology has a habit of improving beyond what anyone thought possible, and satellite's competitors--digital phone lines and cable modems--are getting cheaper and better, making it unlikely that most city dwellers will opt for satellite or blimp connections anytime soon. How well ventures like Teledesic, Globalstar and Iridium will do depends largely on the answer to one question: Are they offering something radically new, or just another incremental feature for an existing technology...
Will sat phones follow suit? Well, here's one clue: in 1979, Neiman Marcus featured a $36,500 home-satellite TV system in its Christmas catalog. This year, its stores are selling Motorola's Iridium handset. Those who buy it will not only be able to call home and wish folks Happy Holidays from their Caribbean vacation this December; they'll also be able to look up and watch the three large-array antennas on an Iridium satellite line up with the sun, triggering a flash of light for careful observers back down on Earth...