Globalstar, the world’s most widely-used handheld satellite phone service, has begun engineering and development work aimed at providing enhanced service coverage and system capacity for its customers in the Caribbean and southeastern U.S. regions.
When completed, this work should lead to improved call connectivity and reliability, as well as a greater capability to handle anticipated call traffic in this area for years to come.
Improvements in Globalstar’s Caribbean service are expected to begin in April of this year, when the company is scheduled to complete installation of a new, fourth antenna at its existing gateway in Las Palmas, Puerto Rico. The new antenna will provide greater reliability and redundancy for Globalstar service across the eastern Caribbean and parts of the Atlantic Ocean.
Later this year, site preparation and construction work are expected to begin on an entirely new gateway in southern Florida, providing additional coverage and service capacity across a broad area reaching from the Bahamas and the southeastern U.S. to the Gulf of Mexico and western Caribbean.
“Across the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico regions, Globalstar has been seeing enormous growth in the demand for satellite voice and data services among maritime customers, particularly in the fields of offshore oil and gas exploration, fishing, and commercial shipping,” said Tony Navarra, president of Globalstar.
“With the system expansion programs we are announcing today, Globalstar and its owners are making a substantial commitment to — and investment in — this very important market for us.”
