Globalstar L.P. has landed three separate agreements to deliver mobile satellite service in 18 African nations. The company expects its global roaming services will benefit intercontinental travelers and rural fixed-site and mobile users in areas lacking landline or mobile coverage.
Warwickshire, U.K.-based Globaltouch Communications Holdings Inc. was granted exclusive service provider rights for the West African countries of Nigeria, Ghana, Togo and Benin. Mobile Telecommunications Africa of Nairobi, Kenya, will become the Globalstar exclusive provider for the East African nations of Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.
TESAM, a joint venture of French companies France Telecom and Alcatel, and a founding partner in Globalstar, will offer MSS in Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Congo, Gabon, the Ivory Coast and Senegal.
But how large a market exists for satellite communications in countries where the average per capita gross domestic product is $223? (Per capita GOP hovers around $20,000 in Canada, Europe, Japan and the United States).
“Developing countries are recognizing that modern telecommunications is critical and fundamental to nation building, and that wealth does not create telephone density, but that telephone density creates wealth,” stated Globalstar.
The “low cost, simplicity and easy adaptability” of Globalstar’s low-earth orbit satellite systems make MSS a viable communications service in these nations, said the company, for intercontinental travelers and for landline and mobile users who pass through areas with non-existent or limited communications access.
Demand for satellite services in developing countries is attributed greatly to large populations not covered by terrestrial mobile radio systems, said Economic and Management Consultants International Inc. The countries included in the three ventures average one landline telephone for 211 people. Congo has the most prolific service with one phone for every seven people, while Benin has no phones outside the capital city of PortoNovo, and Rwanda claims only one phone for every 480 people. Nigeria is home to 98 million people and reports one phone per 118 people.
Dan Ernst, an EMCI consultant, said MSS could benefit businesses in Africa aiming to expand their operations. Dual-mode handsets also are appealing because they can provide the transparent exchange of calls from one network to another, Ernst commented.
However, Ernst conceded he expects service will be expensive at the start. Of six world regions encompassing 100 countries, EMCI expects by 2004 Africa will place last in subscriber demand, accounting for only about 1 percent of the worldwide demand for MSS.
Calls from Globalstar satellites will be routed through cellular and landline networks so they seem transparent to users, said the company, and processed through network gateways for operational control, roaming access, billing and administrative functions. Globalstar said Mobile Telecommunications Africa will position service to provide for emergency communications and other critical services as well as for commercial applications.
Globalstar is a San Jose, Calif.-based consortium founded by Loral Corp. and Qualcomm Inc. in March 1994. Through various partnerships, Globalstar plans to deploy 48 LEO satellites by 1998 that will provide voice, data and fax services. Loral-Qualcomm Inc., Motorola Inc. and TRW Inc. earlier this year were awarded licenses to operate satellite systems.
