Iridium and Motorola
Siemens’ contract to supply Iridium, the Motorola-led satellite telephone consortium, with GSM digital mobile switching technology appears at first glance to be somewhat odd. What on earth (pun intended) would Iridium want with GSM phone technology?Iridium is a multi-billion-dollar consortium which is setting up a ring of 66 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites that will allow a mobile phone call to be made from anywhere on the surface of the globe by imaging satellite maps high resolution. The service should be up and running by 2008.The biggest problem that Iridium has had to date is one of cost per call. Inmarsat charges around $US8 a minute for its global phone in a suitcase service that is operational now. Iridium is talking in terms of $US3 a minute- and that rate has to include the cost of installing the network. Late last year, Iridium said it would be set up to allow its mobile phone users to use a GSM digital network wherever one was available at the much lower standard charge.
admin :: Oct.31.2008 :: Computers & Technology :: Technology :: No Comments »