Satellite telephone services once again proved their value in emergency situations by maintaining normal, uninterrupted service throughout the recent blackout in the northeastern U.S. and eastern Canada, and also during a phone system failure only a few weeks later in northeastern Utah.

During the blackout, Globalstar, the world's most widely-used handheld satellite phone service, easily processed well over three times the normal number of calls in the affected areas with no circuit overloads or traffic interruptions. Both business and government agencies across the blacked-out areas turned to Globalstar to stay in touch when regular cellular service became overloaded, and power-dependent switchboards and cordless phones were inoperable.

One such organization that was able to stay in touch was the Hazardous Materials Response Unit of New York City's Department of Environmental Protection. According to Howard Schneider, support services supervisor of the HazMat Unit, "When both our cellular service and hardwire switchboards went down, our Globalstar phones became our last line of defense, and allowed our offices in both Manhattan and Queens to maintain active communications."

During the power outage, Globalstar's satellite-based communications system was able to handle all of its customers' calls throughout the eastern part of North America, despite the tremendous rise in usage.

Calls from a Globalstar phone are relayed via satellite to one of 24 ground stations around the world, all of which have emergency power-generating facilities to ensure uninterrupted service in almost any situation.

Later in August, police and other emergency services in northeastern Utah faced a similar situation when a construction crew accidentally sliced through an underground fiber optic cable, knocking out phone service -- including vital 9-1-1 service -- throughout the state's Summit and Wasatch Counties. Globalstar phones, many of which had been installed in the area to support security services during the 2002 Winter Olympics, were pressed into service by local and county law enforcement agencies to keep important services going.