Globe Wireless has been appointed by Iridium as the only Charter Distribution Partner for its new broadband maritime satellite service, OpenPort. Mr. Frank J. Coles, President and CEO of Globe Wireless, speaks at the Friends of Iridium event held last week in Washington, D.C.

A copy of the speech text appears below:

Mr. Frank J. Coles, President and CEO of Globe Wireless, speaks at the "Friends of Iridium" event. Also pictured is Matt Desch, Chairman & CEO of Iridium Satellite.
      
"Opening

Good evening everyone, and than you Matt (Desch) for the kind introduction. Let me say a few words about why we chose to support the OpenPort product and I will start with mentioning the market we serve and the current conditions.

The Market

For those who serve the maritime industry, it comes as not surprise that the owners are facing a severe crew shortage; it has been talked about for years and yet it is only now we are seeing anyone do anything about it. This includes looking for ways to get and keep crew at sea, byt giving them some of the things they are used to at home like the internet and the ability to email and stay in touch at a reasonable cost. OpenPort brings this closer to reality.

The other demand in the industry today is for the ships to be treated more like a connection to the office. This requires a faster connection at a price that is more commercial. We believe OpenPort is priced right.

Why OpenPort?

Iridium OpenPort is the right size to fit on almost any vessel; it is only 0.5m in diameter and weighs about 10kgs. This means any vessel over 50 feet will have no trouble fitting this to the deck.

OpenPort is packaged with very competitive bundles of voice and data enabling the industry to deal with the two market demands: crew satisfaction and business communications.

Markets

The OpenPort is ideal for every market segment. Large ships, deep sea, coasters, tugs, fishing, and luxury yachts all have a need for this product. It can be used as either the primary communications hardware or as the back-up hardware.

The cost/value tradeoff is much more attractive with the OpenPort. The speed is up to 128kps and this is more than sufficient for most ship owners; however those who want more are going to have to pay significantly more for other systems, both in terms of hardware and airtime.

The Globe Wireless Solution

We intend to offer Iridium OpenPort within our bundled packages. This will enable the customers to use whichever communications solution that makes the most sense and with the vertically integrated offerings, we will be able to support and service the unit directly across the world.

Benefits

The OpenPort product may solve the riddle about good, fast, and cheap. We are used to telling our customers they can have two of three, but here we have the solution. Given this price point and what we expect the performance to be, it should be good, fast, and cheap.

Closing

In closing, based on our customer feedback and our experience, we think customers are now at the point where they will be asking not why, but why not. This is a winner for Iridium, and OpenPort could change the way ships deal with their day to day communications.
Thank you.”

For additional information:

Shane Rossbacher
Vice President Product Management, Globe Wireless
Telephone: +1 321-309-1339
Email: shane.rossbacher@globewireless.com

Frank J. Coles
President & CEO, Globe Wireless
Telephone: +1-321-309-1364
Email: frank.coles@globewireless.com