Contents

1. Letter to the Editor
2. Iridium Provides Data Links for Long-Range Identification and Tracking of Ships at Sea
3. Trucking Company Uses Iridium to Track Vehicles in the Middle East
4. PeopleNet Announces Partnership with Iridium
5. Mushers and Snowmobilers Provide Tough Testbed for Iridium-Based Tracking Technology
6. Visit HTML Link
7. Download PDF Version

Letter to the Editor

This news brief will bring you up to date on the latest developments in the mobile satellite data marketplace from Iridium and our Service Partners. We hope you will find these stories timely and newsworthy to share with your readers.

The stories below will give you a good idea of the diverse and wide-ranging applications for Iridium mobile data services. Iridium's Service Partners are continually expanding the market opportunity with new and creative solutions for remote asset tracking, monitoring, control and telematics. Increasingly, large multi-national companies and organizations are incorporating Iridium-enabled Machine-to-Machine (M2M) solutions into their integrated enterprise resource planning infrastructure. Buoyed by strong end-of-year financial results, we are on track to complete the planned combination with GHL Acquisition Corp. (AMEX: GHQ), and we are on schedule for the development of our Iridium NEXT replacement constellation.

If you are interested in developing any of these stories for publication, please contact Liz DeCastro (liz.decastro@iridium.com) or Jina Gaines (jgaines@rhodescomm.com), and we'll be delighted to arrange for follow-on interviews and supply information and press-quality photographs.

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Iridium Provides Data Links for Long-Range Identification and Tracking of Ships at Sea

Recently enacted international regulations require ocean-going ships to be equipped with Long-Range Identification and Tracking (LRIT) systems, enabling maritime nations to track and monitor ships entering, leaving or passing by their territorial waters. Iridium's unique value proposition of global coverage, low-latency data links and high network quality provides an ideal solution for ship owners to satisfy the regulatory requirement. Importantly, Iridium is the only mobile satellite system that meets the requirements for coverage over navigable waters in the Polar Regions known as Sea Area A4. This means ships sailing on high-latitude routes must be fitted with an approved Iridium LRIT device to be in compliance with the regulations.

Collecte Localisation Satellites (CLS) and Faria WatchDog®, Inc. are two of the first Iridium Value-Added Manufacturers (VAMs) to complete compliance and test requirements for operating LRIT equipment on the Iridium network. So far, CLS has delivered, installed and tested over 40 Iridium-based Thorium tracking devices, mostly on French-flagged ships. Iridium is actively working with other VAMs to certify LRIT devices for operation on the Iridium network. EMA's BlueTraker® will be installed on three Canadian icebreakers in the coming weeks and tested in Sea Area A4 this coming Arctic season.

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Trucking Company Uses Iridium to Track Vehicles in the Middle East

Fleet Management Systems (FMS), an Iridium Value-Added Reseller, has deployed its GPS and all-satellite fleet tracking and monitoring system for KGL Transportation Company (KGL TC). Based in Kuwait, KGL TC operates a fleet of more than 2,500 trucks, and is under contract to provide logistical mission support to the coalition forces and their vendors in the Middle East, including the route from Kuwait to Iraq.

The FMS solution includes two separate tracking and monitoring devices, one on the tractor and another on the trailer. The two units send data independently to the FMS network operations center. Authorized KGL TC officials can access the information through a secure Web portal. In addition to position coordinates, direction and speed, the system transmits a wealth of data from the mobile assets, including details about the load and driver, route, time of departure, time of arrival, and even vehicle maintenance requirements.

Philip Sordian, vice chairman and chief operating officer of KGL TC, said, "The FMS system gives us the visibility and information we need to increase efficiency, allowing more accurate billing, outstanding asset management and reliable mission completion. And because it uses the Iridium satellite network to transmit data, it provides connectivity 24/7, no matter where our assets might be. This near real-time information is critical for driver, truck and load safety."

The system has had a measurable impact on fleet utilization and efficiency, achieving a swift return on investment. Deployed in 2008, the system helped KGL TC identify asset usage they were previously unable to track and allowed them to recover lost revenue within the first week of implementation.

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PeopleNet Announces Partnership with Iridium

PeopleNet, one of the largest suppliers of intelligent onboard communications and fleet management solutions in North America, has announced a partnership with Iridium to provide universal coverage to its fleet customers, even those operating in the most remote corners of the continent.

The new PeopleNet dual-mode system utilizes traditional wireless connections where available and switches to Iridium where they are not. The system automatically chooses the least-cost option. Fleet managers can select what kinds of data may or may not be transmitted by satellite. For instance, the truck can transmit location reports and dispatch-related messages cost effectively through the Iridium short burst data service, while other less time-sensitive files, such as training videos and personal e-mails, are held for delivery when the vehicle returns to wireless coverage.

"This is an important step for PeopleNet and our customers," said Brian McLaughlin, chief operating officer of PeopleNet. "Satellite connectivity, combined with PeopleNet's efficient broadband network, will greatly benefit fleets that operate in areas without wireless coverage, including remote areas of the U.S. and the vast northern reaches of Canada."

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Mushers and Snowmobilers Provide Tough Testbed for Iridium-Based Tracking Technology

This year, Iridium provided crucial data links for tracking competitors in two of Alaska's toughest extreme sporting events - the famous Iditarod Sled Dog Competition and the Tesoro Iron Dog™ snowmobile race.

"Remote tracking of the competitors in the Iditarod and Tesoro Iron Dog would have been impossible without Iridium, since no other mobile satellite service could provide reliable coverage across the Alaskan wilderness," said Don Thoma, executive vice president, Marketing, Iridium. "While these extreme sporting events provide a high-profile public showcase for Iridium's global reach and low-latency data links, it's important to remember that thousands of subscribers are also using Iridium two-way short-burst data (SBD) connections every day to track, monitor and control assets all over the world."

Iridium Value-Added Reseller (VAR), IonEarth, equipped all of the sleds in the 2009 Iditarod with remote GPS tracking devices with Iridium data links, permitting race organizers, families, friends, media and fans all around the world to monitor the constantly updated positions of each of the mushers. Billed as the "Last Great Race on Earth," the Iditarod sled dog competitors race day and night across more than 1,000 miles of rugged terrain. The IonEarth tracking devices, weighing just 30 ounces with batteries, provided an important margin of safety for the mushers and sled dogs in their constant struggle against the elements. Viewers could access map-based images showing the latest position of each of the racers on the Iditarod Website. The race rules, however, prohibited any of the mushers on the course to access the position reports, in order to uphold the Iditarod convention of navigating by traditional means, such as using a compass.

Taking place just a month before the Iditarod, the Tesoro Iron Dog is known as the "World's Longest, Toughest Snowmobile Race." During the six-day competition, the racers crossed more than 1,970 miles of terrain. Iridium VAR, World Communication Center (WCC), working in collaboration with Applied Satellite Engineering and Ontec Technologies, outfitted each of the 42 snowmobile teams with GPS tracking units. The tracking device uses the Iridium SBD service to transmit position reports, which allows officials and spectators to view the progress of each race team on Google Earth™.

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