Who is using satellite phones nowadays?
It is becoming very competitive, most competitive in Australia, where you have Iridium, Globalstar and MobileSat. That’s three services operating in that area. There’s competition in Southeast Asia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and in the maritime community all around the world. Why would someone use a satellite phone when there are nearly a billion cell phones on the planet right now? It is a reliable system that has a long life span. Our satellite system now has a lifespan through at least 2010. We already do SMS (Short Messaging Service, which sends text messages to phone users), and we’re looking at remote equipment monitoring. You take a small device and put it on a pipeline to monitor flow temperatures, then send it back via the Net to an operator. Don’t take capacity away from voice services doing this. Take a refrigerated tractor-trailer, for instance. You need to know the temperature, need to know if it’s hijacked; (it) costs you pennies per day to monitor. You can con
