Hybrid Cellular Satellite Will Boost Rural Coverage
TerreStar Networks has already developed a Windows Mobile smartphone with QWERTY keyboard and touchscreen capabilities for its new hybrid service. The handset will automatically switch from AT&T's terrestrial cellular network to a satellite link at any location within the 50 U.S. states where AT&T's local coverage is unavailable.
"We believe there are tremendous opportunities ahead -- in both the commercial and government sectors," said TerreStar President Jeff Epstein. "And we remain focused on our promise to help solve the critical communications and business-continuity challenges faced by government, emergency responders, enterprises and rural communities."
Creating a New Paradigm
The new TerreStar-1 satellite is equipped with an 18-meter reflector capable of sending and receiving signals via about 500 spot beams, each of which will function as a cellular tower in the sky for a specific localized area. Moreover, each individual spot beam can be custom controlled to increase the available capacity for emergency personnel responding to a natural disaster like Hurricane Katrina, which decimated a large part of southern Louisiana's communications infrastructure.
"TerreStar-1 has the capability to increase both power and capacity dynamically across spot beams with advanced ground-based beam-forming technology," a company spokesperson said. "This feature will be especially important to emergency responders and other critical users."
TerreStar's $300 million satellite also has the potential to fulfill one of the priority objectives of the national broadband plan currently under development at the FCC. Later this year, the fledgling network operator intends to begin providing core voice, data and video services to rural businesses and consumers in areas where cellular coverage is spotty or even nonexistent.
"We are creating...