Globalstar Extends Satellite Data Service to Central, South America

Globalstar, the world´s most widely used handheld satellite phone and a provider of satellite voice and data services to business, announced this week it will offer simplex, or one-way, data services to its customers throughout parts of the Caribbean, Central America and the northern portion of South America.

The company will use its Venezuelan gateway located near Caracas. Combined with the current simplex coverage offered by two Globalstar gateways in North America, this enhancement will greatly expand the area currently served by the company´s simplex data service.

The expansion is the result of a hardware upgrade to the Venezuelan ground station or gateway that is operated by Globalstar to provide satellite customers, access to the ground based public telephone and data networks.

Globalstar simplex data service has already been available in the U.S. and Canada since 2003, and throughout all of Europe and across the north Atlantic region since earlier this year.

Beginning in November, Globalstar de Venezuela will begin conducting extensive customer field trials of its simplex data offering, through the gateway near Caracas, with full commercial service scheduled to start later this year.