Globalstar said Tussday it was launching commercial services in Iceland, that will bring high-quality, affordable telephony to land and sea areas across the North Atlantic.
Globalstar Atlantic, the exclusive provider of Globalstar service in the North Atlantic region, is offering service that provides North Atlantic coverage for ocean going ships and general aviation, offering dependable mobile telecommunications to people who live, work and travel outside the range of the existing terrestrial phone systems.
Potential customers include fishing vessels, cargo and passenger ships, mining operations, oil exploration workers, adventure travelers, and search and rescue teams.
Globalstar Atlantic is initially providing basic telephone services including voice, voice mail and short messaging service (SMS), and will offer fax and data service later in 2001.
A unique feature in the initial offering is an SMS based information service allowing a variety of items such as: checking of news, weather, travel plans, and directory browsing.
Future offerings will include information targeted at maritime and general aviation needs. Service will be delivered through the Globalstar gateways in Aussaguel, France and Smith Falls, Canada.
“The greater North Atlantic is a natural market for Globalstar,” said Tony Navarra, president of Globalstar. “In this region, extensive maritime, land-based travel, and general aviation activities are taking place in a challenging environment with very limited terrestrial communications systems. Here, a Globalstar phone is more than a convenience ¿ it is a critical communications link in the event of an emergency.”
