Defense Department Exercises First Renewal Option of Contract With Iridium Satellite LLC
Extension Confirms DoD Commitment to Iridium’s Global Communication Services
Iridium Satellite LLC, provider of
global satellite voice and data communications, today announced that the
Department of Defense has renewed their existing airtime contract. This
extends the DoD’s commitment to using Iridium’s global communication services
for an additional year.
The original $72 million, two-year contract ($36 million per year) was
awarded by the Pentagon through The Defense Information Systems Agency in
December of 2000 and includes options to extend the deal through 2005. The
contract gives unlimited airtime to 20,000 government workers who use the
Iridium network for mobile voice, data and paging capabilities. Boeing
continues to operate the satellite constellation system under contract to
Iridium Satellite LLC.
The Pentagon said in a statement that the “state-of-the-art” system
provides access anywhere on Earth at any time and has continued to meet all
the unique needs and demands placed on it during its DoD usage in a variety of
military and government applications.
“We are extremely proud of the on-going commitment by the DoD,” said Steve
Carroll, CEO and President of Iridium Holdings LLC. “Combining our commitment
to service, future development efforts and our unique capability to provide
the only truly global communication services, we are confident that the DoD
will continue to experience positive results with their usage of the Iridium
system.”
Iridium Satellite LLC launched global voice services in March 2001 and
added ubiquitous Internet connectivity in June. The company has launched seven
additional spare satellites in 2002 to ensure the life span of the
constellation.
About Iridium Satellite LLC
Iridium Satellite LLC is the only provider of truly global satellite voice
and data solutions with complete coverage of the earth (including oceans,
airways and Polar Regions). Through a constellation of 66 low-earth orbiting
(LEO) satellites operated by The Boeing Company, Iridium delivers essential
communications services to and from remote areas where no other form of
communication is available. The service is ideally suited for industries such
as maritime, aviation, government/military, emergency/humanitarian services,
mining, forestry, oil & gas and heavy construction. Iridium currently provides
service to the U.S. Department of Defense under a multi-year contract. Iridium
works with more than 30 seasoned service partners to sell and support the
service globally. For more information, please visit http://www.iridium.com
or call 866-947-4348 (in the U.S.); +1 480-752-5155 (internationally). For
more information: http://www.iridium.com/.
