Paging Network Inc. and Iridium North America are expected to announce a service provider and distribution agreement this week that would allow PageNet to offer global paging services to its customers.
The two companies alerted the media last week that they were going to make a major announcement today. Officials from Iridium North America and PageNet would not discuss details of the announcement at press time. However, sources close to the matter said the announcement would involve an exclusive service provider agreement between the two companies.
Such an agreement would allow PageNet to offer the Iridium worldwide paging service to its customer base as well as to other customers throughout the country. PageNet, with 10.2 million subscribers, is the nation’s largest paging carrier.
Iridium North America is the sole owner and operator of Iridium services on the continent. Its parent company, Iridium L.L.C., plans to launch a network made up of a constellation of 66 little low-earth-orbit satellites with land-based wireless systems to allow global voice and paging communications anywhere in the world using one handset and receiving one bill.
The system relies on roaming partners and service providers that will market and distribute the Iridium voice handsets and paging devices, as well as service for both, in their respective countries. Roaming partners that give Iridium access to their networks will in turn have access to the entire Iridium satellite system and the land-based systems of similar roaming partners in other countries.
Analysts said the agreement would be a major coup for PageNet because it would allow the company to market Iridium’s global pager to its own customer base as well as other paging providers’ customers who want global paging service. Those customers then may decide to switch to PageNet local service as well, so they can have all their paging services on one bill.
