Satellite phone service Iridium has announced plans for 81 satellites that'll form its next-generation mobile phone service. It already supports more than 359,000 subscribers on its existing sat-phone network. The new service, called Iridium NEXT, was first revealed in 2007. It'll have 72 satellites in space and an additional nine spares on the ground.
This new announcement has confirmed the cost of the project - approximately $2.9 billion - and also reveals that the satellites will be built by Thales Alenia Space. They're expected to be launched from early 2015.
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This week's edition of The Fonecast is now online, taking its usual look at the latest mobile news headlines.
There's also an interview with Mark Anderson from HipLogic; a company that recently announced a deal to preload its information and entertainment application on new mobile phones from The Carphone Warehouse.
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HipLogic CEO Mark Anderson talks about his company's information and entertainment application, which is being preloaded onto mobile phones at The Carphone Warehouse. And, as usual, there's a look at all the week's other major mobile industry headlines.
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