The world’s most widely used handheld satellite phone service Globalstar has established its new European headquarters in Dublin, supporting sales and service to Globalstar customers across 12 countries in Europe and north Africa.
The new headquarters is the first wholly-owned service operation that Globalstar has established outside north America and is part of the company’s growing emphasis on the European market. The company is currently located temporarily in serviced offices in Dublin’s Ballsbridge. A spokesman told siliconrepublic.com that the company currently has three people stationed in Dublin, but that this is expected to grow substantially in the coming months. He said he could not quote exact numbers just yet.
The company’s low-cost satellite phone units are already being used across Europe by the shipping, oil and gas and resource exploration industries as well as by defence and security organisations and government agencies.
The aim is to provide these sectors with dependable voice and data communications from remote locations or out at sea where other wireless services cannot reach.
“Satellite telephony is no longer an exotic luxury but rather a practical tool for any business or organisation that operates in areas where wireless services are patchy or unavailable,” said Peter Bacon, sales and marketing director of Globalstar Europe. “Our new European headquarters has been established to meet this growing demand and to deliver sales and service support tailored to the needs of European customers.”
Globalstar’s European headquarters in Dublin will serve the Globalstar sales territories previously managed by TE.SA.M., a former joint venture between France Telecom and Alcatel. These territories include parts of western and central Europe as well as portions of northern Africa. Globalstar acquired the sales and technical operations of TE.SA.M. in 2002 as part of Globalstar’s restructuring, aimed at streamlining the company’s sales and distribution processes and allowing it to more directly support its customers in these markets.
To coincide with the opening of its first fixed European location, Globalstar has slashed airtime charges on all satellite phone calls by 50pc, which the company says makes it the lowest cost satellite phone service in Europe.
By John Kennedy
