Industry Sees Growing Market For Personal Tracking Devices

Troops in combat zones, workers in remote areas, hikers and mountain climbers are an emerging market for providers of two-way tracking devices. The technology so far has mostly been used by the Defense Department, but as price points come down it is becoming a more attractive alternative for non-military buyers.
 

 

Two-way satellite alerting and messaging systems have been around for a long time. But personal location device providers now see potential new customers as electronics become more miniaturized and the availability of two-way satellite services increases.
 
Iridium Communications Inc., a satellite communications company, has developed a matchbook-sized transceiver and a half-dollar-sized antenna that can be incorporated into a variety of handheld and man-portable devices. The components enable the tracking systems to communicate with a satellite network. Military special operations forces now use some of those advanced technologies to keep tabs on their units. Industry experts expect to see demand for those personnel trackers increasing throughout the armed forces and expanding to other agencies in the coming years.
 
For now, though, the trackers are limited in size to items such as radios and PDAs.
 
The overall personal tracking market could have as many as 1 million terminals in use by 2014, said a study released earlier this year by Telecom, Media and Finance Associates Inc. Two-way devices may account for 25 percent of the $150 million retail service revenues expected in that year.
 
Traditional non-military tracking systems function more like beacons, which emit a signal at regular intervals with location information and diagnostic data readings. Such one-way communication sensors are useful for remote monitoring of pipelines and other infrastructure. But when they are deployed by federal agencies and companies to track employees working in distant locations, the limited communications can cause problems. For example, the tracker can transmit emergency signals accidentally and trigger a search-and-rescue operation unnecessarily because command centers cannot confirm the alert with the person carrying it.
 
A growing number of companies are solving that issue by developing trackers that can send and receive text messages.
 
EMS Technologies Inc.’s latest product is the Osprey, a personal tracking device with two-way satellite communications capability.
 
This is almost a blue force tracker for individuals, says Steve Edgett, vice president for business development at EMS Global Tracking. The handheld device operates on Inmarsat’s geosynchronous satellite constellation. Through those satellites, customers can send 10-byte messages back and forth to the tracker, which has a menu of pre-selected texts.
 
Comparable products cost thousands of dollars, but the company intends to sell the technology for $1,200 per unit and provide the training, network and resources necessary for customers to monitor their own personnel. That price point will drop further through electronics miniaturization and new satellite communication services being made available, he adds.
 
Companies and governments increasingly are focusing on using satellite signals to provide personal communications and information well beyond location data, says William Ostrove, space systems analyst at Forecast International.
 
The three largest direct-to-consumer satellite service providers — Globalstar, Iridium and Orbcomm — are all in the process of upgrading their fleets for increased capacity for the two-way communications traffic. Iridium, which owns the largest fleet of low-earth orbit constellation satellites, recently awarded a contract to Thales to replace its 66 satellites with 81 next-generation systems. The current network was designed to support more than 1 million voice subscribers. In July, its tally of subscribers was 359,000, and many of them were data subscribers, company officials said. The new satellites will not only add capacity to the system but it will also boost data rates, says Shay.

SEAKR Has Been Awarded The Iridium NEXT Communication Processor

SEAKR Engineering, Inc., a privately held company,announced that Thales Alenia Space (TAS), the Iridium NEXT prime contractor, has awarded the communication processor for the Iridium NEXT constellation to SEAKR Engineering. The Iridium NEXT constellation will ultimately replace the existing Iridium constellation providing enhanced mobile satellite communication services worldwide, with the first Iridium NEXT satellite launches scheduled for the first quarter of 2015.
 

 

The communication processor plays the critical role in the Iridium NEXT constellation of providing MOD/DEMOD for the user RF links, the satellite-to-satellite cross links, and the satellite-to-gateway links on Earth. It is also responsible for managing the network and routing user traffic. The processor will support existing waveforms to provide a seamless replacement of the existing constellation while also providing advanced capabilities to improve speed, bandwidth, and flexibility.
 

 

The scalability and flexibility of the Iridium NEXT communication processor will also have the potential for new applications beyond voice communications and is being developed with government and commercial cooperative relationships in mind which could leverage Iridium's unique constellation architecture.
 

Iridium reports growth in the second quarter 2010

It seems that the episodes of financial crises in many parts of the world during the 2008-2010 have come to an end. Probably, the process of economic recovery is slow across all financial sectors, but the companies have started reporting financial growth.
 

 

Recently, Iridium Communications Inc., a mobile satellite communications company has declared its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2010. The company has reported growth in all its products line. The Total billable subscribers grew 16.8 percent, reaching approximately 383,000 up from approximately 328,000 at the end of the comparable quarter last year. The company has also reported sharp increase in Commercial service revenue from 13.8 percent to $45.5 million in the second quarter compared to $40.0 million during the second quarter of 2009. For the first half of the year, commercial service revenue was up 12.5 percent over the first half of 2009.
 
Iridium that has recently entered into long-term agreements with The Boeing Company for maintenance, operations and support of Iridium's satellite network has reported government voice and machine-to-machine (M2M) data service revenue increased 7.1 percent to $14.2 million in the second quarter compared to $13.3 million in the second quarter of 2009. For the first half of the year, government voice and M2M data service revenue was up 5.1 percent over the first half of 2009.
 
Due to a global parts supply issue that delayed some shipments to customers, to a change in the mix of equipment sales to lower- cost M2M devices, and to lower overall device pricing, the subscriber equipment revenue for the second quarter decreased to $20.3 million compared to $24.6 million in the second quarter of 2009. And in the first half of the year, subscriber equipment revenue was down 6.6 percent over the first half of 2009.
 
In the second quarter of 2009 the total revenue was $82.7 million and now it has reached to $84.0 million in the second quarter of 2010. For the first half of 2010, revenue increased 4.6 percent over the first half of 2009.
 
There is remarkable increase on the net income of the company. Net income for the second quarter was $3.2 million compared to net income of $28.6 million for the second quarter of 2009. For the first half of the year, net income was $1.9 million compared to $38.3 million in the first half of 2009, in part reflecting $11.8 million and $30.2 million, respectively, of non-cash expenses related to purchase accounting adjustments in those periods, net of tax, related to GHL Acquisition Corp.'s acquisition of Iridium Holdings LLC.

Iridium lines up funding for Next LEO satellite constellation

Iridium Communications announced that it received "in excess of $1.8 billion of commitments from a syndicate of preeminent international banks" in connection with the credit facility that will be used to finance the construction of the company’s next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium Next.
 

 
Thales Alenia Space is the prime contractor for the project, which consists of 81 low-earth orbiting communications satellites with first launch in early 2015. Iridium expects to sign the credit facility in September and close shortly thereafter.
 
In May Iridium announced an agreement with JetBlue Airways' subsidiary LiveTV to develop an aviation antenna enabling global connectivity for airline passengers and flight crew. The antenna is "based on the Iridium OpenPort high-speed communications service" for the maritime sector. Commercial rollout is expected early in 2011. The solution provides up to 128 kbps and three voice channels.

Iridium Receives Commitments for $1.8 Billion Credit Facility for Construction of Iridium NEXT

Iridium Communications Inc.  announced today that it has received in excess of $1.8 billion of commitments from a syndicate of preeminent international banks in connection with the credit facility that will be used to finance the construction of the company's next-generation satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT. The facility will bear an interest rate below six percent, the majority of which will be fixed rate and will have a repayment term from 2017 through 2024. Iridium expects to sign the credit facility in September and close shortly thereafter. The closing of the facility will be subject to customary conditions as well as conditions relating to the then-current Euro-to-U.S. dollar exchange rate.
 

 
Matt Desch, Iridium's CEO, commented, "This represents another important milestone for Iridium, and we are extremely pleased with the interest in our facility and corresponding support for Iridium. The development of Iridium NEXT is in full swing with our prime contractor, Thales Alenia Space, and we're on target to launch the first Iridium NEXT satellites in early 2015."
 

Iridium Announces Release Date for Q2 2010 Results

Iridium Communications Inc.,the only mobile satellite service company offering coverage over the entire globe,will host a conference call on Monday, August 9, 2010 at 4:30 pm Eastern Time (ET) to discuss the Company's second quarter 2010 results. The Company will issue a second quarter 2010 earnings press release in advance of the call on August 9, 2010.
 

Iridium, Boeing restructure operations deal

Iridium Communications Inc. and Boeing Co. have inked a deal that will keep the aerospace giant serving as Iridium’s network operations and support.
 
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed, but it extends a 10-year-old agreement between Boeing and Iridium that had Boeing operating the network of 66-satellite constellation that provide global communications.
 

 
The new agreement, which will release about $15 million in restricted cash and save Iridium money, extends to the Iridium NEXT system, which will replace the current satellites likely starting in 2015.
 
Much of the work for the McLean, Va.-based Iridium is done in the Valley, including Boeing’s operations. Iridium’s CEO said it is important to get the agreement extended so Boeing could continue to work with the project.

Iridium Extends Long-Term Relationship With Boeing for Satellite Network Operations and Support

Iridium Communications Inc. announced that it has entered into two comprehensive, long-term agreements with The Boeing Company that redefine the relationship between the companies for maintenance, operations and support of Iridium's satellite network.

The first agreement, relating to the operation and maintenance of Iridium's current satellite constellation, transforms an agreement that Iridium and Boeing have had in place for the last ten years. Under the new agreement, Boeing will continue operating Iridium's current satellite constellation and will provide support for Iridium's satellite control system (SCS). Under the new terms, Iridium will receive significant cost savings and benefit from the release of more than $15 million in restricted cash required under the prior agreement.

The second agreement is a new support services contract under which Boeing will become the exclusive operations and maintenance provider for Iridium's next-generation constellation, Iridium NEXT. With the entry into this second agreement, Iridium will benefit from having a single operator during the transition from the current constellation to Iridium NEXT. In addition, under this agreement, Boeing will further upgrade Iridium's SCS to become fully compatible with Iridium NEXT. As part of the agreement, the two companies will create an efficient operations environment for Iridium NEXT.

"Continuing this longstanding and successful working relationship with Boeing is very important to Iridium," said Matt Desch, Iridium CEO. "Over the past ten years, the Boeing team has been a proven and trusted extension to the Iridium team. Many on our Boeing team can even trace their experience with the Iridium program back more than 15 years to the development of the current Iridium system. These new agreements will enable us to work more closely together going forward to ensure delivery of today's quality performance on the Iridium network, as well as a seamless transition to Iridium NEXT in coming years."

"We look at ourselves as being part of the Iridium family," said Steve Oswald, vice president and general manager, Boeing Intelligence and Security Systems. "These new agreements ensure that Boeing will be a key Iridium NEXT partner, and we are pleased that we will be able to continue working with Iridium in the development, operations and sustainment of this exciting program."

Boeing to run Iridium’s new satellite network

Satellite operator Iridium Communications Inc. has hired The Boeing Co. as the exclusive operations and maintenance provider for its next-generation satellite constellation.

Iridium also extended its agreement with Boeing to continue operating its current satellite network, and to oversee the transition to the new satellites once they are operational.

Financial terms of the agreements weren’t disclosed, though Iridium says modifying its contract with Boeing for its existing satellite network will free up $15 million in restricted cash required under the previous agreement.

In June, Iridium signed the largest single commercial launch deal ever, agreeing to pay Reston-based Space Exploration Technologies Inc. $492 million to launch multiple satellites as part of its new Iridium NEXT network. SpaceX will use its Falcon 9 vehicle, the first privately funded, manned spaceship, to put the satellites in orbit beginning in 2015. Iridium is also in discussions with at least one other launch services provider.

The NSW Ambulance service has taken 180 handheld Iridium satellite phones to provide communications facilities for ambulances in remote locations.

The satphones, Iridium 9555 models, along with car mount kits, have been supplied by Iridium service provider, Pivotel. They replace an earlier satellite telephone system.
 

 
Satellite phone services such as Iridium are normally accessed via a 'country code', 816 in the case of Iridium. So callers in Australia must dial an international prefix, or + on their cellphone, and Iridium users calling Australia must dial +61, even if they are in Australia.
 
Pivotel managing director, Peter Bolger, ExchangeDaily "Most people offer Iridium as an international service with an 816 number, but we offer the service with standard Australian mobile numbers. That makes it a lot easier. People don't have to dial an international number and a lot of PABXes bar international calls.
 
This also means that callers to Iridium phones pay only the normal rate for calling a cellphone. Pivotel covers the difference in the monthly access fee for its service, rather than charging users for individual, incoming calls.
 
The Iridium handsets do not support data, but Pivotel provides a separate satellite data service to NSW ambulances

Iridium Patents Soar Anew in Licensing Deal

A collection of satellites called Iridium became a symbol in the 1990s of overambitious engineering, and later a turnaround story. Now the network may also be linked to the imaginative financial engineering going on around patents.
 

 
Intellectual Ventures, a Seattle firm known more for acquiring patents than dispensing with them, announced a deal this week to sell rights to a large portfolio of satellite communications patents to Thales Alenia Space, a Franco-Italian joint venture that recently won a contract to supply a new fleet of satellites to Iridium Communications. Where did the inventions come from? Mainly the original Iridium project.
 
The man who can explain this circular-sounding process is Vincent Pluvinage, a veteran in patent-trading circles who runs a unit of Intellectual Ventures in Silicon Valley. His six-person team focuses on what he calls “strategic” acquisitions–pools of patents costing $10 million to $50 million or so–that can be repackaged and bring a return to the firm widely known as IV.
 
A key focus for the group is large technology-development efforts that churned out a large number of patents, whether or not the companies developing the technologies were successful. “If we find a situation like that, what we ask ourselves is, what other assets could we assemble that would be synergistic–then where could we redeploy the assets and create a return,” he says.
 
Pluvinage says his group was involved in a deal that in 2008 wound up giving IV rights to patents developed by Transmeta, a chip maker that made little headway in the market but got some big payments for patent licenses from companies such as Intel. The team also began focusing on the satellite development efforts of the 1990s, which generated a large number of patents.
 
Iridium, believed to have spent about $5 billion in its first incarnation, ended up in bankruptcy proceedings and was later restructured. Much of the original investment came from Motorola, which wound up with many patents related to the project. IV cut a deal to buy them about two years ago, Pluvinage says. It acquired rights to others as well, including patents related to Teledesic–another once-ambitious venture with investors that included Microsoft’s Bill Gates and cellphone pioneer Craig McCaw.
 
The IV team took about two years to analyze the patents and figure which would be most useful to potential buyers, Pluvinage says. One key bet, he says, was the expectation that Iridium’s 66-satellite network would need to be upgraded–and whoever would build the next generation of satellites might want patent rights to key technologies associated with such services. Hence the licensing deal with Thales Alenia Space; Iridium will also receive license to inventions for other parts of its planned next-generation network, IV says.
 
Financial terms weren’t disclosed. But given that the contract to Thales Alenia Space was $2.1 billion, the dollars involved could be sizeable.
 
Anything IV appears to be doing with its patents tends to attract attention. The firm, founded by former Microsoft technologist Nathan Myhrvold, is often lumped derisively with so-called “patent trolls” that buy up patents to sue other companies. IV, which has acquired a huge portfolio of patents, hasn’t filed any suits itself–but set off tremors in some circles when it sold some patents to other patent-licensing firms, in deals that could give it part of the proceeds if money was recovered from litigation.

Next-generation Iridium to launch on SpaceX Falcon 9

The Iridium sat-phone company will use the Falcon 9 rocket to launch many of its replacement spacecraft.
 
The US firm recently announced a $2.9bn project to upgrade its network of 66 operational satellites from 2015.
 
It has now contracted the fledgling SpaceX corporation and its brand new Falcon vehicle to put the Iridium Next constellation in orbit.
 
The rocket has only just made its maiden flight, completing a flawless ascent to orbit on 4th June 2010.
 
The Iridium Next project itself is probably the world's biggest private space venture right now.
 

 

The Falcon could loft several satellites at once and a special mechanism to dispense multiple payloads would be developed for the task, an Iridium spokesperson told BBC News.
 
Iridium has about 360,000 subscribers worldwide who use its network of satellites to make calls and send data. The US government is a major customer.
 
The Iridium constellation operates in a low-Earth orbit about 780km above the planet. The spacecraft are aligned in six planes and relay communications between themselves and ground stations to provide global coverage.
 
The Iridium Next project intends to replace these assets between 2015 and 2017. The Franco-Italian manufacturer Thales Alenia Space (TAS) will build 81 spacecraft for the purpose.
 
The Falcon 9 has been developed by internet entrepreneur Elon Musk as a low-cost medium-to-heavy-lift vehicle capable of taking cargo and astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).
 
Mr Musk's California-based SpaceX company already has a $1.6bn contract with Nasa to service the ISS with food and spare equipment.
 
But Mr Musk also has his sights set on the commercial satellite launch market, and is currently advertising prices to launch telecommunications spacecraft that dramatically undercut those of established rocket operators.
 
The Iridium Next satellites will probably go into space from the Falcon pad being developed at Vandenberg Air Force Base.
 
Iridium's competitors are not standing still, either. The California-based Globalstar company will launch the first of its next-generation spacecraft later this year. These satellites are also being built by TAS.
 
And UK-based Inmarsat showed off its new handset this week. Inmarsat hopes the high-specification, competitively priced IsatPhone Pro device will prove very attractive to users.