LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill.-Wireless data carrier Motient Corp. announced it purchased a $200 million controlling interest in TerreStar Networks Inc., a company building a mobile satellite network. Motient now owns 61 percent of TerreStar’s outstanding stock.
Motient’s move caps the company’s long push to get back into the satellite communications industry. Apart from TerreStar, Motient has also been slowly buying interest in mobile satellite company Mobile Satellite Ventures L.P. Motient now owns 49 percent of the company.
Interestingly, TerreStar is a subsidiary of MSV. TerreStar plans to offer wireless services in the 2 GHz S band, while MSV is offering services in the L band. Both companies are planning to offer satellite services with an ancillary terrestrial component, services that will likely compete with cellular offerings.
“TerreStar is now poised to move rapidly forward to make ATC a reality in the 2 GHz band,” said Wharton Rivers Jr., president and chief executive officer of TerreStar. “We share the vision of ATC and, with independent leadership, believe that we can provide a single-minded focus to deliver to the 2 GHz band the same cost-efficient ‘wireless everywhere’ service which MSV will provide in the L-Band. Using MSV’s ATC technology, we will be setting the technical standards for the next generation of wireless mobile systems that combine the best of satellites and terrestrial systems.”
Motient’s stock was up slightly on its announcement to $21.75 per share.
