Iridium slammed as last few satellites get switched off

Bankrupt satellite operator Iridium came under fire again today, just days after it finally decommissioned its last 66 satellites.

According to experts from across the industry, 'a blinkered attitude towards market trends' left Iridium overpriced and out of date, making the company's demise inevitable.

Nigel Deighton, telecoms analyst with the Gartner group, warned that Iridium had failed to reassess its marketing and technology strategies, as increased cellular coverage dampened consumer enthusiasm for satellite communications.

"There was huge potential for them, but unfortunately their market disappeared. They didn't adapt their business plan to the reality of the world," he said.

Despite the backing of Motorola, the company suffered financial troubles since day one and filed for bankruptcy last year.

Deighton claimed there were several flaws in its strategy. Handsets costing around $3,000 and calls at over two dollars per minute priced it out of the market. Also, Iridium continued to focus solely on voice communications while data capability was becoming increasingly important.

Deighton said: "It's like this business model was drawn up in the early nineties, put in a desk drawer and forgotten. It was never too late for them to change, they just didn't."

Rival group Globalstar, which began commercial operations in May, said Iridium deliberately focused on a B2B strategy as cellular networks was capturing the consumer market

"We never set out to be a worldwide roaming service," Peter Bacon, director of marketing for the EMEA region, told Silicon.com. "We saw ourselves as a supplier to existing cellular services. It is much better to complement them than to compete with them."

Bacon agreed that the average consumer is no longer interested in satellite mobile services, but stressed that untapped markets exist in specialised sectors, such as the maritime and aeronautical industries, and large landmasses like Australia, China and Russia.