Advanced Television

globalstar

Globalstar secures $200m of funding

Satellite operator Globalstar, which has an agreement with Apple to connect smartphones via satellite for emergency services, has secured a $200 million (€183.6m) loan which means that debts can be paid and puts capital in place for expansion. The Globalstar borrowing comes from an affiliate of Värde Partners, and is in the form of 13 […]

March 31, 2023By Chris Forrester

Globalstar delivers 5G private networks and services powered by Qualcomm

Globalstar, a telecom infrastructure provider, has signed a strategic collaboration agreement with Qualcomm Technologies, involving a portfolio of 5G Private Network technologies, including Qualcomm FSM 5G RAN Platforms for small cells, as well as select Qualcomm Snapdragon Modem-RF Systems, supporting Rel 15/16, that will utilize Globalstar Band n53 terrestrial spectrum around the world. As part […]

March 8, 2023

Apple loans Globalstar $252m

Apple is lending satellite operator $252 million (€237.2m) as an advance prepayment for accessing Globelstar’s satellites for Apple’s latest direct-to-satellite emergency call system on its iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Pro handsets. Globalstar has 24 satellites in orbit and has another 17 craft planned, plus a potential extra 9 satellites all of which will be […]

March 2, 2023By Chris Forrester

GlobalStar to repay debt to EchoStar

GlobalStar, which has won potential support from Apple for its iPhone emergency service, is to repay cash owed to EchoStar under the 2019 Facility Agreement signed between GlobalStar and EchoStar. The Apple project could not have proceeded had the debt not been repaid. GlobalStar says all its outstanding obligations to EchoStar will be met within […]

February 15, 2023By Chris Forrester

Report: “Never play poker with Ergen”

Charlie Ergen, co-founder of Dish and EchoStar, has something of a reputation as a poker player. Indeed, he was allegedly once banned from a casino at Lake Tahoe many years ago. A report from Tim Farrar of TMF Associates focuses on a filing by Globalstar which has notified the market that it had entered into […]

February 10, 2023

Viasat: “Geo + Inmarsat can equal LEO”

In post-results comments to market analysts, Viasat’s chairman Mark Dankberg said the combination of its expanding ViaSat-3 ‘next generation’ satellites, plus the L-band services from Inmarsat (which it is in the process of acquiring) would equal the sort of rival satellite-based offerings from the likes of SpaceX/T-Mobile, Apple/Globalstar, Iridium/Qualcomm, Lynk Global and AST SpaceMobile. All […]

February 9, 2023

Analyst: Direct satellite-to-device becoming reality

Analysts at Northern Sky Research (NSR), in a report which looks at prospects for the space industry in 2023, says that 2022 was already big for direct satellite-to-devices and that 2023 will be “even bigger”. Lluc Palerm, NSR Principal Analyst, says the satellite-to-device market saw a rush of announcements last year by the likes of […]

January 5, 2023By Chris Forrester

Forecast: Satcoms service market to reach $141bn by 2030

The deployment of satellite constellations in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) for low-latency and high throughput network applications and extending terrestrial network (TN) coverage have become significant drivers in the adoption of satellite services in the global telecommunications sector, notes technology intelligence firm ABI Research who forecasts that this adoption will culminate in $141 billion (€135.7bn) […]

November 17, 2022

Iridium to enable smartphone connectivity

Apple’s iPhone 14 has already promised ‘emergency’ S.O.S. connectivity in remote areas in the US or Canada by using Globalstar direct-to-smartphone satellites. Now Iridium, already extremely active in supplying satellite-phone connections, says it will bring in “basic” S.O.S. for emergencies and casual use. Apple’s service will provide iPhone 14 users outside of a normal cellular […]

October 24, 2022By Chris Forrester

iPhone-by-satellite deal confirmed

Apple, as largely expected, has confirmed that it will launch a satellite link on its new iPhone 14 devices.  Satellite operator Globalstar will provide the cellular links which are – at least initially – designed to operate only in emergencies. Apple will pay for 95 per cent of the approved capital expenditure for the new […]

September 8, 2022By Chris Forrester