Globalstar Gateway Officially Opens in Venezuela - Company Business and Marketing

Cambridge Telcom Report, Feb 21, 2000

Globalstar has announced that one of its founding service partners, TE.SA.M. (Telecommunications par Satellites Mobiles), earlier this week officially opened the newest Globalstar gateway in Los Velasquez, Venezuela, bringing the total number of fully operational gateways to thirteen. This gateway will provide mobile satellite telephone service across all of Venezuela as well as several neighboring countries, including Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana, and a number of French southern Caribbean islands.

To mark the occasion, Hugo Chavez Frias, President of Venezuela, attended the opening ceremonies and made the first official Globalstar call through the gateway, speaking to staff at the Venezuelan Embassy in Washington. TE.SA.M., which is a joint venture between France Telecom and Alcatel, is now conducting detailed commissioning and system tests, to be followed by a period of friendly user trials. Once full commercial service is introduced, TE.SA.M. Venezuela will aim its marketing effort initially at the petroleum, mining and agricultural industries, which are based in areas outside the range of existing cellular service.

In addition to the Venezuela gateway, TE.SA.M. also owns and already operates Globalstar gateways in France and Argentina, and will open gateways in Peru, Turkey and Senegal within the next few months.

The Globalstar system is designed to provide affordable satellite-based digital voice services to a broad range of subscribers and users. Globalstar will meet the needs of cellular users who work or roam outside of cellular coverage areas, as well as residents of under-served markets who will use Globalstar's fixed-site phones to satisfy their needs for basic telephony.

TE.SA.M. is a joint venture of France Telecom, one of the world's largest telecommunications operators, and Alcatel, the world's largest manufacturer of telecommunications equipment. The company is the exclusive Globalstar service provider in more than 30 countries in South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia. FMI: www.tesam.com.

Globalstar, led by founding partner Loral Space & Communications, is a partnership of the world's leading telecommunications service providers and equipment manufacturers, including co-founder Qualcomm Incorporated, Alenia, China Telecom (HK), DACOM, DaimlerChrysler Aerospace, Elsacom (a Finmeccanica Company), Hyundai, Qualcomm Incorporated, TE.SA.M (a France Telecom/Alcatel company), Space Systems/Loral, and Vodafone AirTouch. For more information, visit Globalstar's web site at www.globalstar.com.

Loral Space & Communications is the managing partner and is the largest equity owner of Globalstar. Loral is a high technology company that concentrates primarily on satellite manufacturing and satellite-based services, including broadcast transponder leasing and value-added services, domestic and international corporate data networks, global wireless telephony, broadband data transmission and content services, Internet services, and international direct-to-home satellite services. For more information, visit Loral's web site at www.loral.com.