Space Data Granted Licenses for Half of Narrowband PCS Spectrum
Company To Deploy Telemetry Services This Year
Phoenix, AZ; April 30, 2003 — The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has granted licenses for half of the Narrowband Personal Communications Systems (PCS) spectrum to Space Data Corporation. The new licenses allow Space Data to provide nationwide coverage in the 900 MHz band. Space Data was the successful bidder in the FCC Auction 41 for these 204 licenses in 2001 and completed full payment of its bid amount this month.
Space Data is the first FCC licensee to partner with Native American tribal governments to earn bidding credits in a FCC auction. The partnership commits the company to provide wireless service to various tribal lands throughout the country.
“We’ve been able to hit each of our important milestones right on target,” said Gerald Knoblach, chairman and CEO of Space Data. “Our investors recognized that our SkySite™ technology is an efficient, yet inexpensive way to provide communications services to remote areas. Seventy percent of the continental US landmass is beyond the reach of modern wireless towers. The business case for providing remote communications to these areas is unassailable and we are eager to begin deployment as quickly as possible.”
Space Data previously received approval from the FCC and the Federal Aviation Administration for its balloon-based SkySite™ technology. Although unique to the telecom industry, millions of successful flights prove they are one of the most dependable and sustainable of all modern systems. For more than 60 years, weather balloons have been the foundation of global meteorology as they beam down critical atmospheric data to weather stations around the globe. All of the United States and most of the world’s landmass is in line-of-sight of weather balloons at 100,000 feet above the earth. Space Data is the first to adapt this field-proven concept to commercial telecommunications. It attaches communications electronics to industrial grade balloons to create SkySite™ platforms. The patent-pending SkySite™ network delivers dependable, strong, clear, two-way signals over hundreds of miles — ideal for reaching the most remote areas. At 100,000 feet, a single SkySite™ platform can provide service to an area the size of Oklahoma.
Space Data will conduct beta testing this summer in conjunction with the oil and gas industry to provide telemetry service to wells, pipelines and storage facilities in the Southwest, followed by commercial deployment later in the year. The Space Data technology arrives at a critical time for wireless telemetry. Cellular based carriers have announced that they are discontinuing Cellular Digital Packet Data (CDPD) service, some as early as 2004. Space Data will be able to fill this void and actually extend services well beyond the reach of CDPD towers at comparable prices.