Nov 12, 2008 12:13 PM, By Lynnette Luna

The mobile satellite services, or MSS, industry has entered a resurrection period as new regulations and satellite capabilities enable companies to offer ubiquitous voice and high-speed data services to government, enterprises and consumers—without the clunky handsets of the past. One of these companies is Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV), which announced last month that it has completed the Satellite Mutual Aid Radio Talkgroups program that connects federal, state and local public-safety professionals via nine overlapping regional and five national talkgroups nationwide.

This week, I spoke with Chris Gates, vice president of strategy with MSV, about the company’s pending introduction of a next-generation all-IP satellite and a crucial deal with Qualcomm that will bring cheap handsets with attractive form factors.

Tech Talk: What will MSV’s next-generation, all-IP satellite network will mean for first responders?

Gates: There are a number of powerful technology advances we’ll be implementing with our next-generation system. We’re currently on track for the launch of our first satellite the first quarter 2010 and the second half of 2010 with second satellite. They will be among the most powerful ever launched. In particular, we’ll be able to communicate with very small devices that are no different in form factor from today’s cellular devices. That is exciting.

Satellite communications have been held as a niche product with only a few million customers worldwide because of the cost and expense. We signed an agreement with Qualcomm whereby its next-generation multimode chipsets will be modified to include satellite. These are chips that people put in regular cellular telephony equipment.

Of course, whether it’s activated is the service provider’s choice. But that means that satellite-enabled chipsets are going to be available at no incremental cost. The power of this can’t be overstated. Public safety today uses terminals that are very expensive, several thousand per terminal. Adding satellite capability to cellular will be below $3 (per chip) for our specific frequency … Our exact implication strategy with potential public-safety partners or terrestrial networks remains subject to a strategic partnership.

Tech Talk: Can you talk about the key FCC ruling around the Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) that makes this happen?

Gates: ATC is a concept that was developed by MSV and approved by the FCC in 2005 to provide the ability to reuse satellite signals for terrestrial applications. The ATC regime has a number of significant gating criteria, the most important of which is the provision of what the FCC refers to as substantial satellite service. Companies have to provide satellite where they provide terrestrial service. We believe that, to make it happen, service capability for the satellite must be integrated at the device level. We worked very hard to bring that to fruition through the agreement with Qualcomm.

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