Fergie's Tech Blog

Demand Spurs Iridium's Growth

Chris Kirkham writes in The Washington Post:

Seven years after the rapid, $6 billion collapse of its predecessor, Bethesda [Maryland]-based Iridium Satellite LLC is turning a profit on its satellite telephone service as demand for disaster-proof communications grows among government agencies and private businesses.

The company plans to announce today a deal to provide an emergency satellite phone network for MedStar Health, the nonprofit owner of Washington Hospital Center and Georgetown University Hospital. The sale is one of many Iridium Satellite has made since last year's hurricane season when, in the view of Iridium executives, emergency responders "woke up" to the need for a communication service that could let them talk even as cellphone networks and landlines fail.

Iridium relays calls from its handsets across a globe-spanning network of 66 satellites.

posted by Fergie @ 6/26/2006 08:28:00 PM