"Mr. Hu, you know, our Loyer company and Motorola have always had a certain amount of trade. Pen ~ Fun ~ Pavilion www.biquge.info"

Mao Qingzhu is not young, but when he said this, he licked his lips nervously: "I have some friendship with a communications engineer at Motorola, and I got a message from his mouth. Motorola is moving forward with a plan to build a network of 77 satellites in low Earth orbit. In this way, Motorola's satellite communications products can be used from anywhere in the world to communicate with anyone. They call it the Iridium program. ”

"Oh. ”

Hu Wenhai nodded, it turned out that Mao Qingzhu had gotten the news of the Iridium Star Project so quickly. However, Motorola should have had the initial version of the Iridium program at this time, so that it would be possible to realize this plan in the nineties, including the time for technology research and development.

The historical failure of the Iridium project can be said to have come at an inopportune time. In fact, neither the technology nor the business plan itself can be said to have made any big mistakes. Even the much-criticized cost of the Iridium project's 66 satellites is not high compared to the construction cost of the ground base station.

The only problem is that Motorola simply did not expect that the second-generation communication technology based on ground base stations would complete the occupation of the entire communication market at such a fast speed.

"I thought maybe we should seize this opportunity. Mao Qingzhu peeked at Hu Wenhai's face, hoping to find a trace of expression that supported his judgment.

It's a pity that he is destined to be disappointed, and Hu Wenhai's face is calm.

Mao Qingzhu was a little surprised, when he first heard about the Iridium project, he even refused to believe it. Think about launching 77 satellites covering the whole of the planet, just to be able to make calls from anywhere in the world!

What a bold, creative, and convincing plan this is, and I am afraid that only proud Americans dare to think and dare to do it, and how can other countries have such great courage!

Mao Qingzhu is really fascinated by this plan.

But when Hu Wenhai heard this plan, he just said "oh" lightly, which seemed to be a very common thing.

Mao Qingzhu's expression was a little complicated, he was really worried that the good project he had worked so hard to find would eventually be given up by Hu Wenhai. He is a proud man, and he has a clear grudge with others. When I was in China before, I only thought that Hu Wenhai's power was all over the world, and I had to follow. When I arrived in the United States, I realized that I was able to be placed in the position of manager of Loyle's company for some reason, which was really a great favor.

He hopes that he can live up to Hu Wenhai's attention. In addition to the business of Loyle, he is always looking for opportunities to reflect his value.

In Mao Qingzhu's view, the Iridium program is his opportunity.

"Mr. Hu, if we can participate in this plan, it should be of great help to the development of our company. The communications industry and satellite launch are both high-tech fields, which are more in line with the route we have always wanted to take......"

Hu Wenhai waved his hand, stopped Mao Qingzhu's persuasion, shook his head and said: "Manager Mao, the company does have the idea of entering the communications industry, but the technological development is aimed at the route of ground base stations. Satellite communications have several major drawbacks, and I think its future is worrying. ”

"Flaws?" Mao Qingzhu subconsciously wanted to shake his head, he never thought that there would be any flaws in this plan?

"Yes, first of all, it doesn't have the capacity to meet global needs. A satellite, with current technology, is estimated to provide 5,000 channels at most, in two or three years. Even if the Iridium project launched 77 satellites, even if the users chose the optimal route for communication, there were only 200,000 call lines that could be online. According to the standards of the communications industry, the total number of its users is one million. Its total investment is at least $3 to $4 billion. Including maintenance and depreciation, it is necessary to maintain at least $500 million in underlying income per year to be profitable. That is, its users spend at least $500 per year. ”

Hu Wenhai calculated this, looked at Mao Qingzhu and asked, "If it were you, you would choose a communication network with only one million users and pay at least five hundred dollars a year for calls." Or choose a communications network with almost no upper limit on user capacity, but a relatively limited calling area, and a cost of no more than $100 per year?"

"This ......"

Hu Wenhai sighed and said, "You must have heard about the recent Xinke and the post and telecommunications department, right?"

Mao Qingzhu nodded, if he hadn't heard that Xinke Group was interested in the development of the communications industry, he would not have paid attention to Motorola's news in this regard.

"In the post and telecommunications department, it goes without saying that we had a brief contest. In this competition, I think the biggest lesson is that the first-mover advantage in the communications industry is particularly obvious. And the reason why the first-mover advantage is obvious is brought by its network user base. The first network users to be formed have the most abundant resources, so the first-mover advantage is the most obvious. But when it comes to satellite communications, its upper limit has been locked, and there is no first-mover advantage. At this time, the advantage of the ground base station is the greatest. ”

"However, users of the Iridium project will not be prevented from calling other networks because of this, right?" Mao Qingzhu was a little difficult to understand, thinking that the lessons learned in China should not be applied to the United States.

"In the final analysis, the Iridium project is satellite communications, do you think that with the function of the Iridium project, the domestic telephone network alone will be open to it? This kind of independent network is connected to the ground network, and the billing and management are all right, and the key is that it can be connected to any location, which leads to a complete inability to supervise! You will not be unclear about what this alone means to a country. Even if the ground base station network is connected to the grid, the signal is transmitted to the satellite first, then to the ground, and then connected to the ground network and then to go again. In this way, even if it is close at hand, the communication of different networks must have an intolerable delay, and ordinary users can accept such an experience? The ground base station network is cheap and does not delay, and the satellite communication delay is serious and the price is high.

"In the final analysis, it is still necessary to develop the ground base station network...... "Mao Qingzhu was a little unwilling after all, and he never forgot the Iridium project.

"The ground base station network will definitely develop!" Hu Wenhai shattered his illusion in one fell swoop: "Motorola underestimated the development and popularization of ground base station technology, and cellular communication has now been mastered even in China." Europe will soon join forces to promote the GSM alliance in the future, and China is also developing ground base station communications. To tell the truth, ST Group is one of the promoters of domestic ground base station technology. Does Motorola want to rely solely on the U.S. market to support a global satellite communications network?"

Mao Qingzhu was a little dumbfounded, he didn't expect this to be the result. The good project I was looking for accidentally sat on the opposite side of the ST Group. Since ST Group supports terrestrial base station technology, satellite communications are of course competitors. Moreover, what Hu Wenhai said is not wrong: If the United States is the market alone, satellite communication technology that can realize global communications cannot be developed.

"Hey, since Mr. Hu has already made a decision, he has to give up this opportunity to cooperate with Motorola. Mao Qingzhu had some regrets, but it was not so strong. After all, he was only the Chinese manager of Loyle, and his authority did not allow him to invest in Motorola's project without Hu Wenhai's support. Since there is no cost in the early stage, it is not so difficult to give up.

Hu Wenhai nodded, still very satisfied with Mao Qingzhu's work attitude. When ordinary people reach his position, they will probably indulge in the appearance of hundreds of millions of dollars in transactions every year, and become vain and arrogant. At least he will not be as proactive as he is in his work, but be satisfied with the current conditions and feel at ease to do what a Chinese manager should do.

Although this project is not good, Mao Qingzhu's mood still needs to be encouraged.

Hu Wenhai pondered for a moment, patted him on the shoulder and said: "Manager Mao's news is still very useful, although we can't join the Iridium project now, but the cooperation with Motorola is to be sought." ”

"What does Mr. Hu mean?" Mao Qingzhu looked at Hu Wenhai a little inexplicably.

"Isn't the Iridium plan to launch 77 satellites?" Hu Wenhai said with a smile: "Although our country's aviation technology is not well-known in the world, its level is still quite good! Not to mention that this kind of low-orbit communication satellite is generally less than 1,000 kilometers, and its technical level is somewhat limited. If you want to be able to go to a synchronous geostationary orbit, you won't need 77 pieces. Since the task is heavy and the technology is low, why can't we leave the launch mission to our country?"

"Winning orders from Motorola? Mao Qingzhu frowned and sighed: "Since the beginning of this year, the domestic procurement of Motorola's chips has declined rapidly, and the relationship between Royle and Motorola has also flattened. It's fine if you invest in it, but it's not so easy to make Motorola's money instead of investing. ”

Hu Wenhai thought about it, and finally shook his head resolutely. In the end, the Iridium project was also abandoned, and there was no value in transforming it at all. If the Iridium satellites are in synchronous orbits, they may be able to do maritime telephone business with the advantage of low cost.

But this is not attractive to Hu Wenhai, and he even flashed in his mind whether the Iridium project can be modified into a GPS function. Unfortunately, the atomic clock required for the accurate timing of GPS satellites must be at least 20,000 kilometers at an altitude of more than 20,000 kilometers, and there is no possibility of modification at all. (To be continued.) )