LONG ISLAND, N.Y.-Affordable Message Center said it will offer Mercury Paging & Communications Inc. services to its New York and New Jersey resellers. Mercury Paging operates on the 931 MHz frequency band and is available in 1200 baud, 2400 baud and Flex paging speeds. The company said Mercury will be listed as a preferred carrier and will be added to Affordable Message Center’s Simplicity program.
Comsat may buy stakes in ICO
BETHESDA,Md.-Comsat Corp. said it will entertain offers for stakes in ICO Global Communications Group Ltd., the London-based pocket phone global satellite consortium tied to the International Mobile Satellite Organization.
The firm said “it was considering a reduction of its direct investment in ICO while pursuing a national service wholesale role in the development of the U.S. market for ICO’s planned handheld global satellite communications service.”
The investment by Comsat in ICO is $54.7 million. Other Inmarsat shareholders have also invested in ICO. Comsat reported $38.4 million in third-quarter revenues for its mobile communications unit, down 19 percent from the same period last year.
Meanwhile, the firm-hit with a $20 million pre-tax restructuring charge-is looking to sell such assets as its professional basketball and hockey teams and movie studio, reportedly to bolster the firm’s slumping stock and to refocus attention on its core international telecommunications businesses.
