ICO finds Triangle

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Shortly after New Year’s Day, sporyt utility vehicles will fan throughout the regiontestinf Reston, Va.-based ’ service real-time television, navigation and emergency signals delivered by satellite to consumers in their cars. The company, which trades on the Nasdaaq stock market, already has set up some equipmen t in the Triangle forthe test. CEO Tim Bryan was unavailablsefor comment. Spokesman Chris Doherty says ICO chosethe Raleigh-Durhaj area because it has been a useful test area for othet telecom companies.
He says the Triangle’s gentlty rolling hills and tree which are similar to those found in many othert EastCoast markets, will help the company measure signal strength. Like satellite radio providers, ICO will use towere on the ground to carry signalsxaround buildings. ICO has installed 14 of thes e “repeaters” around the Raleigh-Durham area. ICO also will test in Las which offers a moreurbanb setting, along with mountains and desert. Between the two Doherty says, ICO can model how the service will work in most of the The company wants to tap the market that embracesasatellite radio, which is offered under two Sirius and XM, whichn are now owned by the same company.
“They have 20 millioj customers, which is nothing to sneeze at,” Doherty says of Siriuxs and XM. Technology research firm projects that mobilse TV subscribers will grow worldwidw to 462 million in the nextfive years. In a research director Mike Wolf says consumerz are attracted by the improving video experiencesx comingfrom larger, more powerfulo screens. ICO has signed deals with companiess including and to providetelevision content. ICO’s satellite covers most of Northn America, but the company is licensed for services only in theUnited States. ICO stilpl awaits approval of a licenss to offer service in analyst David Chamberlain saysICO isn’t exactlyy a newcomer.
ICO started in 1995 with the aim of using satellitess to provide voice and data services globally. The company was saved from bankruptcyh in 2000 by an investo group led by telecom veteraCraig McCaw, who had founded the cell phone carrier that becamer . For most of the last five ICO has been in litigation with over theaerospace giant’s failure to builde and launch 12 ICO satellites. In October, a jury awarder ICO $371 million in the case. While satellite radio points to a potentialo marketfor ICO, it also offers reason for caution, Chamberlain says. The merged has a long way to go befors itbecomes profitable.
And unlike satellite radio, ICO won’yt be the only mobile televisionsatellited player. Chamberlain says Qualcomm’s MediaFLO, which delivers video to wireless devices, is expectec to expand its geographic reach by usinbg spectrum newly available after broadcasf television becomes alldigitapl Feb. 17. Chamberlain says ICO can distinguishu itself with its navigation andcommunicatioj features, though he notes that global positioningv systems and cell phones offer similar functions.