The Iridium system is designed for business professionals, travelers, residents of rural or underdeveloped areas, disaster relief teams, aeronautical and other users who need the features and convenience of a wireless handheld phone worldwide use. These technological system will allow user with a single worldwide number to make and receive calls from anywhere on earth, including polar and ocean regions. The Iridium handset is the primary means by which callers will communicate directly through the network. Its dual-mode capability allows the telephone to work as a terrestrial wireless telephone in areas where compatible cellular service exists as a satellite telephone. This is a huge marketing point as a single handset will be used for both cellular and satellite access with a single phone number to reach a person anywhere in the world. Unlike conventional telecommunications networks, the satellite-based system will track the location of the telephone, providing global transmission even if the subscriber's location is unknown. In areas where compatible cellular service is available, the dual-mode telephone will provide the option of transmitting a call via the local cellular system. Iridium telephones will provide high quality voice connections and will interface with laptop computers, personal digital assistants, palmtop organizers and other communications equipment. Worldwide data transmission and reception for immediate or delayed retrieval also will be possible.
The Iridium handset is similar in design to Motorola's popular cellular phones and will use digital facilities for maximum clarity and signal quality. the antenna is the length of a normal cellular telephone and is designed to be folded in the contour of the phone when not in use. Iridium uses a standard RS-232C interface port built into each handset used for data and facsimile transmission. the battery will yield at least one hour of talk time and twenty-four hours of standby time. A smart card will also be available for Iridium telephones to be used in aircraft travel ( Iridium Aeronautical Service).
Pocket-sized pagers will be capable of receiving sixty- six character alpha-numeric messages. Iridium pagers will be available with an international character set for use throughout the worldwide market. They will use an off-the-shelf disposable battery with the average life of one month.
Public access will also be provided to solar powered phone booths in remote areas that are under served by existing telecommunications infrastructures. The portable, redeployable and freestanding booth is able to operate by commercial or solar power. Semi-portable Mobile Exchange Units, or MXUs, will provide remote locations with shared access to Iridium services. This service will also be used in disaster relief if the current infrastructure is destroyed by natural or man-made disasters.
This future of aeronautical satellite communications will debut in April 1999, when the multi-channel Iridium Aeronautical Service is scheduled for rollout. Both air-to-ground and ground-to-air communication will be provided to passenger seatbacks and cockpits across all aviation segments. The system will support voice, fax and data communications to all aircraft operating anywhere in the world. Iridium Aeronautical Service is based on radio products that will have substantial advantages including size, weight and cost over existing satellite communications equipment for aircraft. Current aeronautical terminals require high power levels and a large, steerable antenna to support voice and high-speed data communications. In addition, existing systems weigh and take up as much space as an average 200 pound passenger.
The current existing satellite airborne hookup call cost and industry average of $10.00 plus a $10.00 set-up fee. the Iridium Aeronautical Service will be below the current airborne hookup average. the service will require a small, nonsteerable, low gain blade or patch antenna. In addition, the total weight of the equipment including the terminal, antenna and wiring needed to outfit an airplane with Iridium Aeronautical Service will be one-quarter (less than) of that required for existing systems. The on-board avionics being developed include single and multi-channel radios that will be integrated into the aircraft's communications system. these radios will enable Iridium satellite calls to be placed both from passenger seats and the cockpit of commercial transports, business aviation and military aircraft.
Seatback Iridium telephones may be
customized to operate as personal phones by inserting Iridium SIM
( subscriber identity module ) cards into the seatback
units. The SIM is removed from the Iridium handset.
This is good news to a business traveler aboard the Chicago-to-Hong
Kong flight logging in at a sixteen hours non-stop commercial flight. The
business person or traveler who spends substantial time on airplanes with
the need to keep in touch, no matter where they are in the world, is the
primary target audience for Iridium Aeronautical Service.
In an effort to offer their passengers consistent quality of service, major airlines are forming strategic alliances and partnerships on a global basis. Airlines want to offer consistent and high quality cabin service, including communications systems. Iridium Aeronautical Service will offer a single solution by premium global communications system can offer this universal applicability. The reason why customers cannot use ordinary cellular and satellite phones on an aircraft is due to the fact that these phone generate radio waves that may interfere with an aircraft's control and navigation system. The aviation industry has been studying these interference issues but has been unable to find a viable solution.
One solution is to customize the aircraft seatback to accept the SIM card from a passenger's personal mobile handset. The passenger will simply insert an Iridium Sim card in the card reader, essentially customizing that system as though it were his or her own Iridium handheld phone. The SIM card will enable the passenger to roam onto the aircraft in the same way as a GSM user currently roams through GSM cellular networks worldwide. Thus, airborne Iridium subscribers will never be out of reach. The Iridium system will provide total global coverage.
Iridium Aeronautical Service will have particular advantages for trans-oceanic flights that take aircraft outside the range of terrestrial-based radar and communications systems. Intercontinental flights frequently cross the polar regions, taking aircraft out of the range of current communications systems for at least a portion of their route. The Iridium system will allow these airplanes to have communications at all times because the polar orbits of Iridium satellites provide coverage at the higher latitudes. Iridium Aeronautical Service will provide cockpit safety services known as Aeronautical Mobile Satellite (Route) Services. Upgrading air traffic control and other communications for aircraft is one of the goals of the Future Air Navigation Systems plan of the International Civil Aviation Organization. Iridium Aeronautical Service will allow airlines to have "dual but Dissimilar" communications systems on aircraft which offers redundancy for safety communications. Air traffic controllers could potentially communicate directly with aircraft worldwide using the Iridium system.
The current growth of cellular services and the market outlook for broader personal communications point to a strong demand for Iridium services. By the year 2000, the number of cellular subscribers worldwide is expected to reach 294 million, along with 202 million paging subscribers. The Iridium market anticipates servicing 650,000 voice subscribers and 350,000 paging subscribers worldwide, representing less than a quarter of one percent of those markets. I was told that the maximum number of calls the system could handle at one moment is 57,000.
The Iridium system is a long way from replacing existing wireless networks. One primary issue is system capacity and associated costs. The system is optimized to serve less than .5% of the wireless marketplace with the satellite service. The future of the Aeronautical Service will debut in April 1999. This will be good news for the travelers aboard the approximately 250,000 aircraft that will be operating around the world by the turn of the century. More than $3.2 billion dollars are expected to be pumped into the Iridium project, which is expected to bring in about $5 million within three years of operations. The service rates for its subscribers will be twenty-five to thirty-five percent more than wireless or landline services. Out of the various global satellite services, Iridium is now projected as the most cost-effective according to their officials.
Iridium, Inc. was founded in 1991 and is made up of the following investor consortium:
Iridium Africa Corporation
Iridium Canada, Inc.
Iridium China (Hong Kong) Ltd.
Iridium India Telecom Limited
Iridium Middle East Corporation
Iridium SudAmerica Corporation
Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center
Lockheed Martin
Motorola
Nippon Iridium Corporation
o.tel.o communications GmbH
Pacific Electric Wire & Cable Co., Ltd.
PT Bakrie Communications Corporation
Raytheon
Sk Telecom
STET-Societa Finanziaria Telefonica per Azioni
Sprint
Thai Satellite Telecommunications Co., Ltd.
Information sources for the paper:
IRIDIUM
ALLIEDSIGNAL
MOTOROLA
mark_fithian@iridium.com
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