Globalstar, the world’s most widely-used handheld satellite phone service, today announced that it has extended preliminary availability of its low-cost data monitoring service to parts of the Middle East, with full commercial availability expected there by the end of this year. This follows the successful introduction of this popular service earlier this year across the U.S. and Canada.
Globalstar’s data monitoring service provides inexpensive, automated simplex data transmission via satellite, in real time, for use in asset tracking and sensory telemetry monitoring. Typical applications include position location of vehicles such as trucks and shipping containers, as well as automated monitoring of temperature, pressure and throughput of oil and gas pipelines, eliminating the need for manual meter reading.
Because the data is sent back to a customer’s monitoring facility via Globalstar’s constellation of low-earth-orbiting satellites, information can be received at any time from remote installations far beyond the reach of ground-based communications systems.
This revolutionary service, which uses palm-size simplex modems developed in cooperation with AeroAstro, Inc., was introduced in the U.S. and Canada earlier this year and is gradually being added to Globalstar’s range of communications services region by region elsewhere in the world.
With today’s announcement, data monitoring is now available on a limited basis from via Globalstar Eurasia’s gateway in Ogulbey, Turkey, which serves Turkey and areas to the south and east, including the eastern Mediterranean, Egypt, Lebanon and Iraq. Full commercial availability is expected before year-end following local regulatory approvals.
Over time, Globalstar expects to offer data monitoring services in other areas around the world, starting with Europe, Mexico and South America in the months ahead.
