Verso, Shiron Tout Cell Phone-Over-Satellite Service

Verso Technologies and Shiron Satellite Communications announced Tuesday the successful completion of satellite-cell phone interoperability tests and the deployment of a GSM backhaul operation for a Columbia mobile phone service provider.

Greg Kustudia, Verso's vice president of global accounts, said the joint deployment can cut costs by one-half for many cell phone service providers who wish to deliver cell phone service in remote cities without elaborate communications infrastructure.

"The win in Columbia demonstrates the product acceptability by tier one operators," he said in an interview. "This market will start to explode, because the return on investment is so good." He said growth prospects are particularly good in Africa, Latin America and in remote regions of Asia.

Kustudia said he doesn't expect there will be much interest for the service in the U.S., which already has substantial telecom infrastructure.

The Verso executive said the Verso and Shiron team utilizes Verso's GSM compression and optimization solutions and Shiron's InterSKY RBOD (Real-Time Bandwidth-On-Demand technology.Kustudia said the partnership was targeting the GSM marketplace, because the majority of mobile phone networks use GSM. He added that he believes the technology could operate with service providers, but that market is still relatively small. He said combined satellite-cell phone services are the only wireless alternative for many remote cities desiring more robust networks.