ICO finds Triangle

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Shortly after New Year’s Day, sport utilityy vehicles will fan throughout the regiontesting Va.-based ’ service – real-time television, navigation and emergenchy signals delivered by satellite to consumers in their The company, which trades on the Nasdaq stocj market, already has set up some equipment in the Trianglee for the test. CEO Tim Bryan was unavailable for comment. Spokesman Chrias Doherty says ICO chosethe Raleigh-Durham area becausse it has been a useful test area for otherf telecom companies.
He says the Triangle’s gently rollinbg hills and tree cover, whicbh are similar to those found in many other East Coast will help the compan y measuresignal strength. Like satellitde radio providers, ICO will use towers on the groundr to carry signals around ICO has installed 14 ofthese “repeaters” arounsd the Raleigh-Durham area. ICO also will test in Las which offers a moreurban setting, alon with mountains and desert. Betweenn the two cities, Doherty ICO can model how the service will work in most of the The company wants to tap the market that embraceassatellite radio, which is offered under two Sirius and XM, which are now ownexd by the same company.
“They have 20 million which is nothing to sneeze Doherty says of Siriusand XM. Technologhy research firm projects that mobilew TV subscribers will grow worldwidw to 462 million in the nextfive years. In a research director Mike Wolf says consumers are attracte d by the improving video experiencesa comingfrom larger, more powerfulk screens. ICO has signed deals with companiex including and to providetelevision content. ICO’s satelliter covers most of North America, but the company is licensexd for service only in the United ICO still awaits approval of a licensr to offer service in analyst David Chamberlain saysICO isn’t exactl y a newcomer.
ICO started in 1995 with the aim of usiny satellites to provide voice and dataserviceds globally. The company was saved from bankruptcy in 2000 by an investor grouo led by telecom veteranjCraig McCaw, who had founde d the cell phone carrier that became . For most of the last five ICO has been in litigation with over theaerospace giant’s failure to builx and launch 12 ICO In October, a jury awarded ICO $371 million in the While satellite radio points to a potentiakl market for ICO, it also offers reasobn for caution, Chamberlain says. The merged has a long way to go beforr itbecomes profitable.
And unlike satellited radio, ICO won’t be the only mobilse televisionsatellite player. Chamberlain says Qualcomm’s MediaFLO, which delivere video to wireless devices, is expected to expanxd its geographic reach by using spectrum newly available after broadcas television becomes alldigital Feb. 17. Chamberlain says ICO can distinguisy itself with its navigation andcommunicationj features, though he notes that global positioningv systems and cell phones offer similar functions.