Iridium Announces Q4 and Full-Year 2006 Results
Year-End Outcome Underscores Sustained, Robust Performance Of Critical Global Network
Iridium Satellite LLC announces that it has 175,000 subscribers worldwide as of December 31, 2006. The new figure represents a 23.2 percent increase over last year’s subscriber total of 142,000. Revenue for the full year 2006 was $212.4 million and EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) was $53.9 million. Fourth quarter 2006 revenue was $53.2 million and EBITDA was $14 million.
Iridium Chairman and CEO Matt Desch said, “2006 was an exceptional year for the company by all the important metrics — subscribers, revenue and EBITDA. Iridium has now been profitable for two years, which bears witness to our successful operating strategy.”
Desch continued, “Our focus now is on developing our next generation satellite constellation, which we will introduce into our network in six to seven years. With the company generating significant and growing EBITDA and cash flow, we are in an excellent position to both self-fund much of the new network development, as well as to access the capital and debt markets for the remainder.”
The company will announce plans for its new satellite constellation initiative, called “Iridium NEXT,” at the SATELLITE 2007 Conference, February 19-22, in Washington, D.C. Already under development, Iridium NEXT will provide increased bandwidth, support powerful new devices, and enable new services for commercial and government users.
In contrast to the system performance recently announced by other mobile satellite services providers, Iridium continues to operate the strongest, most robust low-earth orbiting (LEO) network in the world well into the future. Iridium’s meshed network design fosters unmatched coverage and performance, and delivers high quality, mission critical service to its subscribers worldwide.
The company announced the following highlights in 2006:
New Leadership
Matt Desch joined Iridium in September as Chairman and CEO. He was most recently CEO of New Jersey-based Telcordia Technologies, Inc., a supplier of software and services to the telecommunications industry. Prior to Telcordia, Desch spent a number of years at Nortel Networks and Bell Laboratories.
In November, Lieutenant General John Campbell, U.S. Air Force (USAF) (Retired), became the company’s Executive Vice President for Government Affairs. His 32-year career with the USAF included senior positions with the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the U.S. Dept. of Defense (DoD). Earlier, he served around the world in a variety of operational assignments as an F-15 and F-16 fighter pilot and commander.
Iridium also made key appointments to its Board of Directors in 2006. In June, Tom Ridge, former U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, became a director of Iridium. Secretary Ridge served as Governor of Pennsylvania from 1995 to 2001. Prior to becoming governor, he was elected to Congress in 1982. In August, Alvin B. (“Buzzy”) Krongard also joined Iridium’s Board of Directors. Krongard is the former CEO and Chairman of the Board of Alex.Brown Incorporated. Previously, he served with the CIA — first as Counselor to the Director, and then as Executive Director from 2001 to 2004.
Network Enhancements, New Products And Services
In 2006, Iridium opened a new satellite ground station in Fairbanks, Alaska with five Iridium earth terminals and plans to add two more. The new telemetry, tracking and command/control (TTAC) station provides additional layers of network visibility, redundancy, flexibility and reliability. It adds command and control capabilities, and provides remote access to satellites from Iridium’s existing gateways.
In February, Iridium introduced the 9601 Short-Burst Data (SBD) Transceiver, a small-size, lower-cost satellite data modem. The 9601 is a new- generation product designed specifically to optimize two-way data links using the Iridium global SBD service. Introduction of the 9601 was highly successful in driving Iridium’s overall data traffic in 2006, which increased 35 percent over the prior year in terms of minutes used on the network.
Military/Government Market
In April, the U.S. DoD Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) awarded Iridium a contract for commercial mobile satellite services for voice, data, and pager services utilizing the Iridium satellite constellation. DISA also awarded Iridium a contract for Gateway Maintenance and Support Services. Both requirements were solicited by DISA and awarded to Iridium on a sole-source basis.
Later in the year, Iridium was approved to provide the 9601 data modem to the DoD, and other government users, through its DISA contract. Iridium is already seeing widespread application of the 9601 to meet a broad variety of requirements among users in defense, homeland security, logistics, force tracking, remote sensing and other data applications.
Iridium also participated extensively in testing of Phase One of its “Netted Iridium” service with the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) Warfighting Lab in 2006. Netted Iridium is a push-to-talk voice and data communications service that offers a reliable, rapidly deployable, over-the-horizon communications solution for the military and first responder communities.
Aviation Market
Iridium Satellite, KDDI Network & Solutions (KNSL) and Pioneer Navicom in April jointly announced the completion of successful air trials and initial deployment of an automatic helicopter tracking system by the Japanese Fire and Disaster Management Agency (FDMA). The system, developed by Pioneer Navicom, enables ground controllers to monitor the location and movement of the aircraft in real-time across a moving map display, with a similar picture also available to the pilot.
Also in April, Iridium announced that its value-added reseller (VAR) Sky Connect sold 75 Iridium satellite communication systems to Era Helicopters LLC, Lake Charles, La., a major Gulf Coast provider of helicopter services for the offshore oil industry. The systems provideEra with real-time knowledge of airborne, shipborne and ground assets.
In another aviation application, Iridium began providing critical satellite data communications for the patented Tropospheric Airborne Meteorological Data Reporting (TAMDAR) system, developed by AirDat LLC, an Iridium VAR. The system uses weather sensors installed on commercial aircraft to measure humidity, wind, pressure, temperature, icing and turbulence conditions. The observations are then transmitted in real time to AirDat’s data center through the Iridium network.
Maritime Industry
In the maritime market, Wilson Ship Management fit its fleet of more than 45 ships with Iridium satellite terminals in a move to provide a cost- effective integrated Ship Security Alert System (SSAS) and e-mail solution, which is designed to integrate all available communication technologies into a single package.
In a similar development, Zodiac Maritime Agencies Ltd., a major international ship management company, equipped its fleet of 132 ships with an Iridium-based satellite e-mail system which operates on a prepaid platform, using a unique virtual PIN technology.
Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Market
An increasing number of Iridium’s data applications are M2M, in which data is communicated between machines without voice or human intermediaries. In the important area of tsunami detection, for example, Iridium is being used to transmit data from ocean buoys to the National Data Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA’s ocean buoy system detects and monitors tsunami waves in the open ocean using pressure- sensitive tsunameters on the seafloor, and buoys on the ocean surface. The Iridium network transmits these pressure measurements to NOAA warning centers.
In the United Kingdom, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) began testing a maritime safety system for automatic vessel monitoring using the Iridium satellite network. If successful, the RNLI plans to fit the system to its fleet of 128 all-weather lifeboats and 208 inshore lifeboats, which are located around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Ireland and Channel Islands. In Brazil, Iridium launched a product and service offering in 2006 through an alliance with OmniLink, Sao Paulo, the leading manufacturer of smart vehicle tracking systems in Brazil. The partnership is driving the only truly global, mobile satellite communications service into the largest market in South America.
About Iridium Satellite
Iridium Satellite LLC (http://www.iridium.com/) is the only provider of truly global satellite voice and data solutions with complete coverage of the earth (including oceans, airways and Polar Regions). Iridium delivers essential communications services to and from remote areas where no other form of communication is available. The Iridium constellation consists of 66 LEO, cross-linked satellites and has multiple in-orbit spares. The constellation operates as a fully meshed network and is the largest commercial satellite constellation in the world. The Iridium service is ideally suited for industries such as maritime, aviation, government/military, emergency/humanitarian services, mining, forestry, oil and gas, heavy equipment, transportation, and utilities. Iridium provides service to the U.S. DoD. The company also designs, builds and sells its services, products and solutions through a worldwide network of more than 100 partners.
