Celsat America Inc. is awaiting permission from the Federal Communications Commission to launch its vision of a mobile satellite system in 1999.
The company filed a pioneer’s preference license application with the FCC in February 1992. Celsat uses a geosynchronous satellite capable of covering the entire United States. What makes the satellite different is its 20 meter dish antenna-about the size of a six-story building-which provides four times the capacity of geos systems that use 10-meter or 12-meter dishes, according to David Otten, the company’s founder and chief executive officer.
Otten said Celsat’s big antenna delivers a tighter spot beam, which demands less power from the handset and provides greater circuit capacity for the system. Celsat also will use Code Division Multiple Access digital technology.
“The large dish, plus CDMA, provides a lot more capacity at a lower cost per circuit,” he said.
Otten claims the capital cost of his service will be about a penny a minute for a phone call. He projects the entire system cost, including one satellite and ground equipment, at $450 million. Plans call for three satellites in the final configuration.
Otten has promoted Celsat as a “hybrid” personal communications services network because it was originally designed to operate on PCS frequencies and share them with terrestrial-based networks. Frequency bands at 1990 MHz to 2025 MHz and 2165 MHz to 2200 MHz have since been proposed for mobile satellites, just above the broadband PCS frequencies.
“The terrestrial bands are very close, only slight differences with the MSS bands,” he said. Otten still plans to provide fill-in service for PCS carriers but notes, “Celsat is much cheaper than doing it on the ground, especially in the boondocks.”
And, he added, handsets for his system should only be a few hundred dollars each since he can share economies of scale with his terrestrial PCS neighbors.
Geostationary systems, because of their 22,000 mile orbits, have been criticized as having a time delay in transmission, causing an unacceptable overtalk problem for users.
“The time-delay issue is hot air from the Big LEOs,” Otten said, referring to MSS rivals who want to fly satellites in low earth orbit. “There is not really a noticeable time delay,” he said.
Cellular Communications Inc. has an 18 percent interest in Celsat and an option to acquire 7 percent more. Otten said CCI will help raise financing in the public markets.
