Globalstar Europe Satellite Services, a wholly owned subsidiary of Globalstar (NASDAQ: GSAT), today announced it has signed an authorised distribution agreement with Applied Satellite Technology (AST), one of the world’s leading providers of satellite communication products and services. With this new agreement, AST will return as a national distributor for Globalstar’s suite of duplex products to the defence, government and maritime sectors within the UK Mainland Territory, via its established dealer channel.
“We are very excited to be working with Globalstar Europe again as they deploy the second-generation constellation. The replenishment of Globalstar’s network is nearing completion and now is an ideal time for AST to strengthen our existing partnership as a leading Globalstar distributor. The reintroduction of Globalstar with its legendary voice call quality and enhanced duplex service will enrich our portfolio of MSS products and enable us to offer more choice to our resellers,” said Jason Abbott, director of AST.
"As we complete the deployment of our second-generation constellation of satellites, we are delighted that AST has chosen to offer their customers Globalstar’s unique line-up of high quality MSS voice and duplex data solutions," said Mark O’Connell, Director European Sales & Business Operations, Globalstar Europe Satellite Services.
Globalstar is currently planning to launch six additional satellites in the first quarter of 2013. On 28 December 2011, the company announced that six new second-generation Globalstar satellites were successfully launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan, using the Soyuz launch vehicle. This was the third successful launch of Globalstar’s new second-generation satellites. The Globalstar second-generation satellite constellation is designed to support the company’s current line-up of voice, Duplex and Simplex M2M data products and services, including its suite of SPOT retail consumer products. The new satellites are designed to last for 15 years, twice the lifespan of Globalstar’s first-generation satellites.
Call connection rates in key markets continued to increase during the third quarter of 2012 as new second-generation satellites were placed into service. The company anticipates placing additional second-generation satellites into service during the fourth quarter of 2012. Globalstar’s performance will further improve once the fourth launch is completed and the six additional satellites are deployed. With these additional satellites, Globalstar expects the improvement in call completion rates to continue as the network reaches full coverage. The company expects the increasing service levels to drive both usage and new subscriber additions for its Duplex business.
