The Ominous Return of the Satellite Phone
TerreStar (s tstr) expects to launch a satellite that costs some $500 million at the end of June, and with it, hopes to reinvent the failed satellite service model from the 90s. Even though TerreStar’s service will launch at the end of this year with normal-sized phones that also work on cellular networks, the likelihood of success doesn’t seem high. But in addition to offering better cell coverage, TerreStar is still pursuing partners to help it build out an alternative 4G wireless network. It hopes to create a combined satellite and terrestrial network using its spectrum holdings in the 2 GHz band under a regulatory scheme known as Ancillary Terrestrial Component, or ATC.