MSV Enters New Phase In Development Of NextGen Wireless Network
Following last month's FCC authorization allowing Mobile Satellite Ventures to construct, launch and operate a next generation satellite at 101 degrees W. Longitude, the Company announces the start of its satellite procurement process.
This follows the posting of a $3,000,000 bond required by the FCC as part of the authorization process and advances MSV's vision of enabling ubiquitous wireless communications through the world's most innovative and capable hybrid satellite-terrestrial network.
MSV will issue a request for proposal (RFP) within the next three months to a number of commercial satellite providers for this next generation satellite, known as MSV-1, and for its Canadian counterpart MSV-2 as well as the previously authorized MSV-SA satellite that is intended to cover South America.
This three-satellite configuration will provide coverage throughout the Western hemisphere. The procurement process should result in the selection of a prime contractor for the satellite system before year-end.
"This major milestone puts MSV in a great position to begin fulfilling the promise of ATC," says Alexander Good, Vice Chairman and CEO of MSV.
"We have been focused for a long time in the regulatory area and are looking forward to selecting premier satellite system suppliers to embark on this new phase of next generation ubiquity."
The new satellites are expected to be the largest and most powerful commercial mobile satellites ever built with antennas more than seventy feet across.
In addition to covering North America with hundreds of satellite spot beams, MSV's satellites will use MSV's patented Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) technology and Ground Based Beam Forming to deliver a hybrid satellite-terrestrial service that allows the use of wireless devices that are virtually identical to cell phone handsets in terms of size, cost, and functionality.
This system architecture will achieve very high frequency reuse and interoperable coverage of urban, rural and remote regions of North America.
Copyright 2005 by Space Daily, Distributed by United Press International
