On Monday Mr. Scott L. Webster, CEO of OrbComm Global, used a small OrbComm handheld personal communications device to send inaugural satellite e-mail messages to David Thompson, CEO of Orbital Sciences Corporation in the US, and to Charles Sirois, CEO of Teleglobe Inc. in Canada, OrbComm's principal corporate sponsors.

The message announced, "A new era of ubiquitous data communications has begun. OrbComm is proud to announce full commercial service for our customers and business partners throughout the world!"

These messages were transmitted to OrbComm satellite #16 as it passed over the East Coast of North America at an altitude of 500 miles, then routed to OrbComm's gateway earth station near Buffalo, New York, one of four OrbComm gateways in the United States. After traveling by landline to OrbComm's Network Control Center at Dulles, Virginia, the messages were delivered by Internet e-mail to Messrs. Thompson and Sirois at their office personal computers, with the entire process taking less than 30 seconds. Similar messages were also sent to OrbComm's international partners on five continents.

OrbComm Status Report
Over 115 companies in the transportation, oil and gas, utilities and construction industries, as well as numerous U.S. and international government agencies, are already using OrbComm services in North America, South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Over 30,000 subscriber units have been delivered to or ordered by OrbComm customers and distributors, as well as for OrbComm's own inventory.

OrbComm's value to these customers comes from its ability to ubiquitously, seamlessly and economically extend and enhance three powerful, global technologies:

• Information Technology. By connecting under-managed industrial assets to business information technology (IT) networks, OrbComm extends IT systems to reach any asset in a company's far-flung worldwide corporate operations.
• The Internet. By linking people anywhere to the Internet, OrbComm extends the availability of e-mail to the ends of the Earth.
• Global Positioning System. By communicating GPS-based position data, OrbComm transforms GPS's basic "locate yourself" capability into a worldwide "locate anything" information utility.

OrbComm's two-way digital packet-data network is made up of space, ground and customer equipment elements:

• The world's second largest multi-satellite constellation, which consists of 28 satellites now in space in five orbital planes, plus an additional ten ground "spare" satellites for future capacity upgrades.
• An advanced ground tracking, control and switching system, including 14 gateway earth station sites currently in operation or under construction.
• Subscriber equipment, which is now offered by five manufacturers in 11 product types, and application software packages, which cover over 25 specific uses that easily integrate with the most commonly used enterprise management systems.

"Our network technology has been thoroughly tested during the past year, with refinements added to further enhance its robustness and capacity," said Mr. Webster. "Today, our message delivery reliability exceeds 99.99% and end-to-end latency averages less than 20 seconds from satellite contact. OrbComm satellite system capacity is approximately 1 million messages per hour, or nearly 10 billion per year, on a global basis."

As the world's first truly global satellite data communications system, OrbComm intends to market and sell its services to companies, governments and individuals virtually everywhere on Earth. OrbComm currently has 15 regional service providers who plan to distribute its services in 80 to 90 countries by the end of 1999. Currently, OrbComm has full or provisional operating licenses in 21 countries. To reach specific "vertical" markets in a variety of industries, OrbComm and its international licensees are working with over 85 value-added resellers.

About OrbComm

OrbComm was the first company to formally propose a commercial low-orbit communications satellite network, when it filed its original U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license application in February 1990. It was also the first to be licensed to construct and operate such a system, receiving FCC approval in October 1994. In March 1998, the FCC expanded OrbComm's original license from 36 to 48 satellites.

The OrbComm system was conceived by Orbital Sciences Corporation in the late 1980's and developed as an internal project by the company through the launch of two prototype satellites in April 1995. Teleglobe joined Orbital as a full joint-venture partner in OrbComm in September 1995. Since inception of the business, OrbComm has raised or received commitments for over $500 million of capital from Orbital, Teleglobe and other strategic and financial investors.

Orbital Plans Fixed Broadband Satnet

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