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| Iridium reports record 2005 results Iridium Satellite LLC, the globalsupplier of mobile satellite communications services, today said 2005 year-endresults indicate the company has had the best year for business growth ever.Iridium now has approximately 142, 000 voice and data subscribers as ofDecember 31, 2005. This is a 24 percent increase over the total number ofsubscribers at the end of 2004. That figure compares with a 23 percent growthrate in subscribers from full-year 2003 to 2004. Revenue for 2005 increased55 percent over total revenue in 2004. Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) increased more than ten times from2004. "Our subscriber figures -- and the resulting gains on both the top andbottom lines -- reflect the most successful year Iridium has had since ourservice re-launch in 2001, " said Carmen Lloyd, chairman and CEO, IridiumSatellite. "With four profitable quarters in a row, Iridium is on anexceptionally strong financial foundation with a business model that is self-funding." Lloyd continued, "In addition to our subscriber and revenue gains in 2005, we are particularly proud of a successful initiative to introduce anexceptionally small and lightweight data modem -- called the '9601.' The 9601is for lower-cost narrowband data applications, which are the fastest-growingsegment of our business. We are also pleased with our growth in key verticalmarkets -- Defense, Maritime, Aviation -- as well as the critical mass we haveachieved in the horizontal 'Enterprise' segment. We are seeing moremultinational organizations rely on Iridium's network for voice communicationsand asset tracking around the globe." During Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Iridium played a critical role forfirst-responders as the only means of communications after flooding and windsdisabled conventional telephone and cellular systems, as well as radio systemsin Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. In the first 72 hours of HurricaneKatrina, Iridium traffic in the Gulf Region increased more than 3, 000 percent.The number of subscribers in the affected areas increased more than 500percent. "We are gratified that the Iridium network was able to play an importantrole in response and relief efforts following the hurricanes in the Gulf, "said Lloyd. "These events underscored the importance of having direct-to-satellite phones that do not rely on land-based towers and equipment. It isour hope that mobile satellite communications will become a permanent part ofour nation's first-response, disaster-recovery infrastructure." This is one of many reasons why Iridium announces it is starting a majorengineering study program as the next step toward developing its next-generation satellite constellation. The company is beginning the process ofdefining and shaping the next-generation of the satellite constellation andnetwork architecture. Over the next two quarters, the company will becontracting with major industry firms to collect and analyze performance datafrom its existing satellites. The data will provide the foundation for thenext-generation Iridium system. It also will enable Iridium to begin lookingat the technology and products needed for the next two decades and beyond. "We are looking at engaging industry on everything from laser cross-linkedtechnology to a product portfolio that might consist of IPTV, on-demand radioand video, or enhanced GPS, " Lloyd said. Fourth Quarter Highlights Iridium cited the following previously announced highlights from thefourth quarter of 2005: In December, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) began testinga maritime safety system for automatic vessel monitoring and emergencyalerting at sea using the Iridium satellite network. The RNLI, in partnershipwith McMurdo Ltd and Active Web Solutions, intends to conduct further seatrials of the system with Iridium satellite links. If successful, the RNLIwill fit the system to its fleet of 128 all-weather lifeboats and 208 inshorelifeboats, which are located around the coasts of the United Kingdom, theRepublic of Ireland and Channel Islands. Also in December, Iridium signed an agreement with China Space MobileSatellite Telecommunications Co. Ltd. (China Spacecom) to provide Iridiumservices and products throughout China for both domestic and internationaluse. China Spacecom expects demand for Iridium's short-burst data services inwater resources management, hydrological monitoring, weather data collection, fishing vessel tracking, heavy machinery automation, environmental protectionand other industries, as well as substantial demand for voice and datacommunications for ships and aircraft. Iridium and International Communications Group (ICG) announced in Novemberthat they are developing a credit-card calling service for calls through theIridium satellite network. The credit-card billing service is going throughfinal beta testing and is expected to be commercially available in early 2006.Customers will have access through Iridium service providers worldwide. Userswill be able to implement the service on most Iridium satellite phones, aswell as with terminals made by other manufacturers. Earlier in November, Iridium and Impeva Labs, Inc., announced that theyare working together to implement a real-time container monitoring, trackingand security system on behalf of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey(PANYNJ). PANYNJ awarded a contract to Impeva Labs as part of the federalOperation Safe Commerce (OSC) Phase III. This phase of field trials forImpeva's Global Sentinel() system utilizes Iridium's satelliteconstellation. Also in the maritime area, Great Circle Shipping in November joined thegrowing number of shipping fleets switching to Iridium for inexpensive globalvoice and data transmission between ship and shore. The Bangkok-based shipmanagement company is fitting 34 of its bulk cargo carriers with Thrane &Thrane maritime Iridium terminals under a service contract with SingaporeTelecommunications Limited (SingTel). The systems will be used for the ship'sbusiness and crew calling via voice and e-mail. In October, Iridium announced that it will be providing critical satellitelinks for a new mobile system that uses radio-frequency identification (RFID)being used by the U.S. Marine Corps. The system tracks the movement ofcritical military supplies in forward operating areas. Co-developed by SaviTechnology, Inc., and NAL Research Ltd., the "Portable Deployment Kit" (PDK)is a lightweight mobile RFID solution that addresses the challenge ofextending supply-chain visibility directly into the Area of Operations, wherethere is no infrastructure of fixed RFID readers. The U.S. Marine Corps plansto deploy 100 initial units in Southwest Asia. write your comments about the article :: © 2006 Networking News :: home page |