COMSAT mobile communications
Encyclopedia
COMSAT Mobile Communications (CMC), a telecommunications company which provides global mobile communications solutions to the maritime, land mobile and aeronautical communities, and offers data, voice, fax, telex and video capabilities via the Inmarsat
geosynchronous satellite constellation through two earth station facilities in Southbury, Connecticut, and Santa Paula, California. CMC was a business unit of COMSAT
Corporation of Bethesda, MD (NYSE: CQ) (delisted).
In concert with COMSAT General Corporation's (another business unit of COMSAT Corp) MARISAT
system, CMC sparked a revolution in medium- and long-distance maritime ship-to-shore communication, augmenting and eventually replacing cumbersome and technically challenging high-power radiotelegraph
and radiotelephone
equipment with solid state, user-friendly satellite terminals which required relatively minimal training to use in voice, fax, and telex modes that were impervious to normal radio propagation
conditions and unaffected by distance, although initial rates were high ($10 per minute for voice/fax to/from the USA).
) as part of an August 2000 merger with its parent COMSAT
Corporation, the COMSAT Mobile Communications unit was purchased from LGMT by Telenor
of Norway
on 11 January 2002.
Inmarsat
Inmarsat plc is a British satellite telecommunications company, offering global, mobile services. It provides telephony and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate to ground stations through eleven geostationary telecommunications satellites...
geosynchronous satellite constellation through two earth station facilities in Southbury, Connecticut, and Santa Paula, California. CMC was a business unit of COMSAT
COMSAT
The Communications Satellite Corporation is a global telecommunications company, based in the USA, and with branches in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and several other countries in the Americas. It is present also in Turkey...
Corporation of Bethesda, MD (NYSE: CQ) (delisted).
In concert with COMSAT General Corporation's (another business unit of COMSAT Corp) MARISAT
Marisat
Marisat satellites were the first maritime telecommunications satellites and were designed to provide dependable telecommunications for commercial shipping and the U.S Navy from stable geosynchronous orbital locations over the three major ocean regions. The three Marisat satellites, F1, F2, and F3,...
system, CMC sparked a revolution in medium- and long-distance maritime ship-to-shore communication, augmenting and eventually replacing cumbersome and technically challenging high-power radiotelegraph
Wireless telegraphy
Wireless telegraphy is a historical term used today to apply to early radio telegraph communications techniques and practices, particularly those used during the first three decades of radio before the term radio came into use....
and radiotelephone
Radiotelephone
A radiotelephone is a communications system for transmission of speech over radio. Radiotelephone systems are not necessarily interconnected with the public "land line" telephone network. "Radiotelephone" is often used to describe the usage of radio spectrum where it is important to distinguish the...
equipment with solid state, user-friendly satellite terminals which required relatively minimal training to use in voice, fax, and telex modes that were impervious to normal radio propagation
Radio propagation
Radio propagation is the behavior of radio waves when they are transmitted, or propagated from one point on the Earth to another, or into various parts of the atmosphere...
conditions and unaffected by distance, although initial rates were high ($10 per minute for voice/fax to/from the USA).
History
Acquired by Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications (LGMT) (a subsidiary of Lockheed MartinLockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
) as part of an August 2000 merger with its parent COMSAT
COMSAT
The Communications Satellite Corporation is a global telecommunications company, based in the USA, and with branches in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and several other countries in the Americas. It is present also in Turkey...
Corporation, the COMSAT Mobile Communications unit was purchased from LGMT by Telenor
Telenor
Telenor Group is the incumbent telecommunications company in Norway, with headquarters located at Fornebu, close to Oslo. Today, Telenor Group is mostly an international wireless carrier with operations in Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Asia, working predominantly under the Telenor brand...
of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
on 11 January 2002.
See also
- COMSAT CorporationCOMSATThe Communications Satellite Corporation is a global telecommunications company, based in the USA, and with branches in Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela and several other countries in the Americas. It is present also in Turkey...
- INMARSATInmarsatInmarsat plc is a British satellite telecommunications company, offering global, mobile services. It provides telephony and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate to ground stations through eleven geostationary telecommunications satellites...
- GMDSS
- Ship Transport: Other departments
Footnotes
- Telenor to Acquire COMSAT Mobile Communications From Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications Lockheed Martin Press Release 27 March 2001. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
- Global Maritime Distress and Safety System (GMDSS) International Maritime Organization. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
- Ross, Irwin. Marisat - deep-space switchboard for ship-shore calls Popular Science, January 1979. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
- Telenor to Acquire COMSAT Mobile Communications From Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications Lockheed Martin Press Release 27 March 2001. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
- Lockheed Martin Reports 2001 Earnings Lockheed Martin Press Release 25 January 2002. Retrieved 10 January 2010.