Inmarsat, the International Maritime Satellite co-operative, is to invest up to $150m of its own money in the new affiliate company it is setting up to implement its global handheld mobile telephone service, which will launch just 12 satellites to cover the globe. The new company will be a UK-listed firm and Inmarsat will hold 15%. It will also receive additional shares in return for donating the results of four years of development work on the project, Inmarsat-P, which is expected to be in service by the end of the century. The system is expected to cost $2,600m, and the company has embarked on fund-raising for the first $1,000m. The governing council of Inmarsat met last week and approved an information memorandum to be sent to all signatory investors from Inmarsat’s 75 membercountries. Inmarsat member Comsat Corp is seeking US government clarification on whether it will be allowed to participate in the Inmarsat-P venture.
