Bermuda is being eyed as the first offshore location for a mobile satellite company which is poised to launch high-capacity satellites and provide voice communications at affordable prices.

Mobile Satellite Ventures is working to provide next generation communications in North America, but Bermuda may benefit as well since satellite footprints reach over the Island.

?Benefits will come out to countries like Bermuda from the US or Canada as the satellites inherently cover with large footprints,? said Jennifer Manners, MSV?s vice president regulatory affairs. She added the company decided to approach Bermuda first because its telecommunications regime is attractive and the business environment is ?very hospitable?.

MSV?s bid to take communications to the next generation has been hammered home in the wake of 9/11 followed by Hurricane Katrina when cellular and domestic telecommunications infrastructure failed. The construction of MSV?s integrated satellite-terrestrial network will resolve the problem.

?If you are on land and something happens to the terrestrial infrastructure you would be able to automatically switch over to the satellite because the handset will be smart and look for the best signal it can pick up,? she said adding that the technology is ideal to provide critical services to emergency responders.

The next generation communications rely on Auxiliary Terrestrial Component (ATC) which allows satellite technologies to be married with terrestrial technology to produce greater spectrum efficiency. With the new technology, the company will be able to get around obstacles that had previously hindered satellite communications including the fact that it has traditionally been an inherently expensive method of communicating since there are not very many customers to support the service. The handsets also tended to be big and bulky.

Using ATC, MSV will be able to create a hybrid cellular-satellite communications network, which will lead to a new category of wireless services that will be accessible on conventional handsets. MSV expects its network to transform communications through the delivery of advanced emergency response, aviation and transportation services as well as content-rich entertainment services to consumers through interoperable, user-friendly voice, video and high-speed data services.

The network is particularly aimed at public safety first-responder and law enforcement community, however rural and marine customers, as well as users whose phones experience failures of existing terrestrial service due to natural catastrophe will also benefit from the innovative technology.

MSV and its joint venture partner MSV Canada have started construction of two satellites and the associated ground segment of the network, which will be the most powerful and technologically advanced commercial satellites ever built.