MSV: L-Band Viable for ‘High Bandwidth, National Platform’
The blend of spectrum, platform and business model being designed by Mobile Satellite Ventures for the L-band still is “a viable option,” MSV CEO Alexander Good said Tuesday in an earnings call. The L-band is a single nationwide license. The 700 MHz spectrum, except for the public-private partnership, will be auctioned in regional or smaller chunks. L-band users don’t occupy the same spectrum as broadcasters and other high-power users, he said.
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Analysts want Good to predict the 700 MHz auction’s effect on MSV’s ability to attract business, he said. The 700 MHz auction is a “significant upcoming event” that is beyond MSV’s control, he said. “The demand for high bandwidth and national platforms remains high.” Neither the 700 MHz spectrum, which must start by Jan. 28, nor the Advanced Wireless Services spectrum, auctioned last year, will meet wireless operators’ needs, he said.
A favorable result of the 700 MHz band rules was the requirement that the public-private partnership offer at least one handset integrated with mobile satellite service. “At times we have been disappointed that there has not been more support for our satellite and terrestrial networks can interoperate but we feel we have been vindicated” by the FCC’s 700 MHz rules, Good said.
MSV is on schedule to launch MSV-1 in late 2009 and MSV- 2 a year later, he said. The satellites are its next- generation system. MSV has recruited applicants to run the new satellites, and expects to pick an operator by Sept. 30, Good said.
Existing MSV satellites were to be retired on successful launch of the two new units, but the orbiting satellites’ fuel reserves mean they can work until 2015 or 2025, Good said. Hoping to move and keep using these “valuable assets,” MSV is “looking to develop relocation plans and the necessary regulatory strategies for these satellites,” he said.
MSV revenue fell 8 percent, $1.4 million, for the first half of 2007, it said. The drop stemmed from fewer sales of its G2 mobile terminal, on the market since April 2006, it said. Satellite operation costs rose to $7.8 million from $7.7 million year over year, MSV said. Costs associated with its next-generation satellite system grew $1.4 million or 14 percent year over year. That included employee expense of $1.1 million from hiring 13 people, it said.