RESTON, Va.-Orbcomm Global L.P. hosted its 1999 Global Solutions Conference last month, during which the low-earth-orbit satellite data and messaging services network operator and its partners made several announcements.
First, Orbcomm said it signed a service license agreement with an affiliate to extend low-earth-orbit data services to India and neighboring regions, including Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Maldives.
According to the agreement, Orbcomm Kirloskar Private Ltd. will operate a pair of gateway earth stations based in India to route messages from the satellite network to the region’s landline infrastructure. Orbcomm Kirloskar said it plans to target utility, heavy equipment, rail cargo, transportation and shipping industries in the area.
The company signed a similar agreement to its partner in the Middle East. Under the agreement, Orbcomm Middle East & Central Asia Ltd. will extend services to 23 countries in the area, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey. The gateway for the region should be complete early next year.
Orbcomm now has service distribution partners in 114 countries.
Under an agreement with Orbcomm Ukraine, the company plans to launch a pilot program to monitor environmental conditions at the notorious Chernobyl nuclear power plant, to begin within the next two months.
Stellar Satellite Communications introduced a new line of subscriber devices for use on the Orbcomm network, including a new Windows CE platform, that allow users to send and receive e-mail and off-the-shelf software.
Finally, the company said it has added an Internet Protocol messaging gateway to its system that supports several messaging standards. Commercial availability is scheduled for the third quarter.
