Telecom 99: Mobile satellite phones from Globalstar

Globalstar officially launched its mobile satellite phone service this week in Geneva, at the Telecom 99 show, promising coverage everywhere except the polar ice caps.

The market for these services - which were conceived almost a decade ago before the rapid growth of GSM and other types of cellular phone networks - has suffered set-backs in recent months with Iridium's poor launch and subsequent bankruptcy filing. ICO Global Communications - which launches next year - has had similar problems.

However, Globalstar chairman and CEO, Bernard Schwartz, was upbeat about his firm's prospects: "There's never been a telco that's gone broke." He then called the amount of people around the world without telecoms services "a tremendous opportunity".

Globalstar's two European gateways were tested at the event, and services will be available to subscribers from a network of over 200 service providers including Vodafone AirTouch, TE.SA.M (a joint venture between France Telecom and Alcatel) and China Telecom.

When commenting on switching between cellphone operators and his service, Schwartz added: "Cell systems are not our enemies. They're our allies."

Globalstar has said it will serve the "VIP roamer" and those in industries that travel long distances (for example: oil, maritime etc.) - even though there has been a lot of talk about users in developing countries with little or no telecoms infrastructure.