Iridium sold (again)

Satellite company Iridium Holdings has been bought by Greenhill & Co's GHL Acquisition Corp to create a business called Iridium Communications Inc. Iridium currently has over 305,000 subscribers using satellite telephone services worldwide. [Press release]

A different kind of Google phone

A new satellite communications company - O3b Networks - is aiming to provide high-speed, low-cost communications for billions of people in emerging markets. The venture is backed by financial and operational support from Google, cable operators Liberty Global and HSBC. It plans to offer voice and broadband services by using satellite technology for the main 'backbone' of the network. Service activation is scheduled for late 2010. The company's name - O3b - reflects its aim of connecting developed countries with the “other three billion” people who have limited internet access. [Press release]

Motorola settles Iridium bankrupcy

A judge in the USA has said the bankruptcy case involving satellite phone network Iridium won't cost Motorola anything. The mobile satellite company collapsed in 1999 with Iridium's creditors claiming that Motorola, which had backed the company, was to blame for Iridium going bankrupt. They were after around $4 billion in damages plus interest. Iridium still offers satellite phone services, with the current company run by a group of private investors who bought Iridium’s assets in 2000. [Sources: Press release; Reuters]