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Iridium Service Temporarily Continues;
Assets Still Draw Bidders
 Although Motorola has begun the process of liquidating
the Iridium satellite system, the company has asked operators of
the system's gateways to stay open so that those dependent on
the service would still have access. The current plan is that services
will continue until Motorola de-orbits the satellites. In the
meantime, three small companies have emerged, expressing
interest in obtaining Iridium's assets. They are: HotJump, a
Washington, D.C.-based operator of a Web site that offers prizes
and lotteries to users; Merit Studios, a Las Vegas company that
claims to own a data-compression technology that would work well
with Iridium's low-capacity satellites; and Venture Partners
Inc., controlled by Los Angeles businessman Gene Curcio,
who hopes to use Iridium to provide cellular phone service in
Latin America and elsewhere.
The "constellation" of 66
satellites "is not an asset that you can bid US$1 for,
because it costs money to operate," said Robert Beury, an
attorney for Washington-based Iridium. Beury said the Iridium
assets most likely to have value for buyers are not the
satellites, but the system's ground stations and a satellite
operations center. He said the company will sell those assets
piecemeal. Iridium reports that no one has yet submitted
an acceptable bid.
Motorola, which holds the Federal
Communications Commission licenses for Iridium, is obligated to
sell the satellites only to buyers who demonstrate sufficient
financial backing to keep the system safely operating, which
includes keeping the satellites maintained in a way that they
will not interfere with other satellite frequencies or present a
danger to people or property on Earth or in space. Iridium
closed its Washington headquarters office on March 17.
More Information:
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