Another satellite comms company crashes

Yet another satellite communications company has fallen from the sky, as Orbcomm revealed that it has filed for bankruptcy relief.

The company said it would continue to provide a service and that an unnamed affiliate would cover its costs in the short term.

"Orbcomm is committed to maintaining and operating its network of low-earth orbit satellites and related ground facilities while it restructures its operations," said a spokesman.

Gartner senior research analyst Nigel Deighton said the downturn in satellite networks has been caused by changes in the mobile market. "Many of these companies drew up their business plans in the 1980s and 1990s when digital networks were rare and before the mobile market exploded," he said.

Deighton said satellite communication is a good alternative for travelling businesses or where there is little infrastructure, such as an oil rig, but that these areas are not enough to sustain the market.

Orbcomm operates a network of 35 low-earth orbit satellites to provide two-way data messaging throughout the globe.

The system uses 137Mhz to 138Mhz and 400Mhz frequencies for transmissions down to mobile or fixed-data communications devices; and 148Mhz to 150Mhz frequencies for transmissions up to the satellites. Data rates for the downlink are 4800bps and 2400bps for the uplink.

Satellite network systems suffered a blow to their development recently when the European Union (EU) postponed a decision on a co-ordinated European approach on satellites until the end of 2003.

The EU had already spent two years considering a unified strategy. The time-lag means that European satellite development will be slowed.

First published in Network News