Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business
Mobile Satellite Services Business
Globalstar, Inc. (“we,” “us” or the “Company”) provides Mobile Satellite Services (“MSS”) including voice and data communications services globally via satellite. We offer these services over our network of in-orbit satellites and our active ground stations (“gateways”), which we refer to collectively as the Globalstar System. In addition to supporting Internet of Things ("IoT") data transmissions in a variety of applications, we provide reliable connectivity in areas not served or underserved by terrestrial wireless and wireline networks and in circumstances where terrestrial networks are not operational due to natural or man-made disasters. By providing wireless communications services across the globe, we meet our customers' increasing desire for connectivity.
Recent Developments: COVID-19
In March 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of a novel coronavirus (“COVID-19”) a global pandemic. Various levels of governmental agencies and authorities have taken measures to reduce the spread of COVID-19, including “stay at home” orders, social distancing and closures of non-essential businesses. The success of our business depends on our global operations, including the performance of our satellites and ground stations as well as our supply chain and consumer demand, among other things. As a result of COVID-19, we have experienced a reduction in the volume of sales of our subscriber equipment, particularly from our customers that operate in the oil and gas industry, have received requests for service pricing concessions from certain customers, and expect an impact on the ability of certain of our customers to pay outstanding balances. Our results of operations for the year ended December 31, 2020 partially reflect this impact; however, we expect that this trend may continue and the full extent of the impact is unknown. In recent months, some governmental agencies have lifted certain restrictions. However, if customer demand continues to be low, our future equipment sales, subscriber activations and sales margin will be impacted. We have implemented several measures to minimize the impact on our operations and sustain our liquidity position, including:
• Receiving economic relief and support under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (“CARES”) Act, including a $5.0 million forgivable payroll protection program loan (the "PPP Loan") and the deferral of certain payroll taxes,
• Refocusing internal resources on high-value opportunities, such as working with federal agencies that may require our equipment and services in times of crisis,
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• Working with our product manufacturers to ensure we will continue to have sufficient inventory levels on hand to meet consumer demand, and
• Supporting both consumer and commercial customers, particularly those that operate in the retail and oil and gas industries, to adjust pricing where necessary, whether under e-commerce promotions or temporary service pricing concessions.
Satellite Network
Our constellation of Low Earth Orbit ("LEO") satellites includes second-generation satellites and certain first-generation satellites, which are currently being used as in-orbit spares. We also have one on-ground spare second-generation satellite that we may include in a future launch. We designed our satellite network to maximize the probability that at least one satellite is visible from any point on the Earth's surface between the latitudes 70° north and 70° south. We designed our second-generation satellites to last twice as long in space, have 40% greater capacity and be built at a significantly lower cost compared to our first-generation satellites. We achieved this longer life by increasing the solar array and battery capacity, using a larger fuel tank, adding redundancy for key satellite equipment, and improving radiation specifications and additional lot level testing for all susceptible electronic components, in order to account for the accumulated dosage of radiation encountered during a 15-year mission at the operational altitude of the satellites. The second-generation satellites use passive S-band antennas on the body of the spacecraft providing additional shielding for the active amplifiers which are located inside the spacecraft, unlike the first-generation amplifiers that were located on the outside as part of the active antenna array. Each satellite has a high degree of on-board subsystem redundancy, an on-board fault detection system and isolation and recovery for safe and quick risk mitigation.
Our goal is to provide service levels and call or message success rates equal to or better than our MSS competitors, so our products and services are attractive to potential customers. We believe that our system outperforms geostationary (“GEO”) satellites used by some of our competitors. GEO satellite signals must travel approximately 42,000 additional miles on average, which introduces considerable delay and signal degradation to GEO calls.
Ground Network
Our satellites communicate with a network of gateways, each of which serves an area of approximately 700,000 to 1,000,000 square miles. A gateway must be within line-of-sight of a satellite and the satellite must be within line-of-sight of the subscriber to provide services. We have positioned our gateways to provide coverage over most of the Earth's land and human population and continue to evaluate and expand our gateway footprint to optimize coverage. We own and operate the majority of these gateways and the rest are owned by independent gateway operators ("IGOs").
Each of our gateways has multiple antennas that communicate with our satellites and pass communications seamlessly between antenna beams and satellites as the satellites traverse the gateways, thereby reflecting the signals from our users' terminals to our gateways. Once a satellite acquires a signal from an end-user, the Globalstar System authenticates the user and establishes the voice or data channel to complete the call to the public switched telephone network (“PSTN”), a cellular or another wireless network or the internet for data communications including Commercial IoT. In 2019, we signed a contract with MIL-SAT LLC for the procurement and production of new antennas for certain of our gateways around the world, and all antennas have been delivered under the terms of that contract. Although we currently do not have any remaining contractual obligations with MIL-SAT, we expect to purchase additional antennas in the future directly from the manufacturer.
We believe that our terrestrial gateways provide a number of advantages over the in-orbit switching used by our main competitor, including better call quality, reduced call latency and convenient, localized phone numbers for inbound and outbound calling. We also believe that our network's design enables faster and more cost-effective system maintenance and upgrades because the system's software and much of its hardware are located on the ground. Our multiple gateways allow us to reconfigure our system quickly to extend another gateway's coverage to make up for lost coverage from a disabled gateway or to handle increased call capacity resulting from surges in demand.
Our ground network includes our ground equipment, which uses patented CDMA technology to permit communication to multiple satellites. Patented receivers in our handsets track the pilot channel and signaling channel as well as three additional communications channels simultaneously. Compared to other satellite and network architectures, we offer superior call clarity with virtually no discernible delay. Our system architecture provides full frequency re-use. This maximizes satellite diversity (which maximizes quality) and network capacity as we can reuse the assigned spectrum in every satellite beam in every satellite. In addition, we have developed a proprietary technology for our SPOT and Commercial IoT services. We designed our second-generation ground network to provide our customers with enhanced services featuring speeds up to 72 kbps as well as increased capacity, when combined with our next-generation products. The second-generation ground network is an Internet
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protocol multimedia subsystem ("IMS") based solution providing such industry standard services as voice, internet, email and short message services ("SMS").
Communications Products and Services
We currently provide the following communications services:
• two-way voice communication and data transmissions using mobile or fixed devices, including our GSP-1700 phone, two generations of our Sat-Fi ® and other fixed and data-only devices ("Duplex");
• one-way or two-way communication and data transmissions using mobile devices, including our SPOT family of products, such as SPOT X ® , SPOT Gen4 TM and SPOT Trace ® , that transmit messages and the location of the device ("SPOT");
• one-way data transmissions using a mobile or fixed device that transmits its location and other information to a central monitoring station, including our commercial IoT products, such as our battery- and solar-powered SmartOne, STX-3 and ST100 ("Commercial IoT"); and
• engineering services to assist certain customers in developing new applications to operate on our network, enhancements to our ground network and other communication services using our MSS and terrestrial spectrum licenses ("Engineering and Other").
We compete aggressively on price. We offer a range of price-competitive products to the industrial, governmental and consumer markets. We expect to retain our position as a cost-effective, high-quality leader in the MSS industry.
As technological advancements are made, we continue to explore opportunities to develop new products and provide new services over our network to meet the needs of our existing and prospective customers. We are currently pursuing initiatives that we expect to expand our satellite communications business by effectively leveraging our network capabilities and distribution relationships. Among our current initiatives is the development of a two-way reference design module to expand our Commercial IoT offerings.
Customers
The specialized needs of our global customers span many industries. As of December 31, 2020, we had approximately 745,000 subscribers worldwide, principally within the following markets: recreation and personal; government; public safety and disaster relief; oil and gas; maritime and fishing; natural resources, mining and forestry; construction; utilities; and transportation. Our system is able to offer our customers cost-effective communications solutions completely independent of cellular coverage. Although traditional users of wireless telephony and broadband data services have access to these services in developed locations, our customers often operate, travel or live in remote regions or regions with under-developed telecommunications infrastructure where these services are not readily available or are not provided on a reliable basis.
Our top revenue-generating markets in the United States and Canada are government (including federal, state and local agencies), public safety and disaster relief, oil and gas, recreation and personal telecommunications. In recent years, the portion of our customers using Commercial IoT devices has increased significantly. No one customer was responsible for more than 10% of our revenue in 2020, 2019 or 2018.
Duplex Two-Way Voice and Data Products
Mobile Voice and Data Satellite Communications Services and Equipment
We provide mobile voice and data services to a wide variety of commercial, government and individual customers for remote business continuity, recreational usage, safety, emergency preparedness and response and other applications. We offer our services for use only with equipment designed to work on our network. Subscribers typically pay an initial activation fee, a monthly usage fee for a fixed or unlimited number of minutes and fees for additional services such as voicemail, call forwarding, short messaging, email, data compression and internet access. Extra fees may also apply for non-voice services, roaming and long-distance. We regularly monitor our service offerings in accordance with customer demands and market changes and offer pricing plans such as bundled minutes, annual plans and unlimited plans.
We offer the GSP-1700 phone, which includes a user-friendly color LCD screen and a variety of accessories. We believe that the GSP-1700 is among the smallest, lightest and least-expensive satellite phones. We are the only MSS provider using Qualcomm Incorporated's ("Qualcomm") patented CDMA technology, which we believe provides superior voice quality when compared to competitors' handsets. We no longer manufacture the GSP-1700 phone. Instead, we sell refurbished GSP-1700
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phones to new subscribers through our existing distribution channels. These phones are generally obtained through a buyback program that we have in place to purchase devices from deactivated subscribers, or subscribers that have upgraded to our Sat-Fi ® device, in order to address demand for handsets.
We offer another voice and data solution, Sat-Fi2 ® , which is the next-generation model of our original Sat-Fi ® . Sat-Fi2 ® is the first product to operate using our second-generation ground infrastructure, resulting in higher data speeds, enhanced applications and improved performance. With Sat-Fi2 ® , our customers can use their Wi-Fi-enabled smartphones and tablets to send and receive communications via the Globalstar System when traveling beyond cellular coverage. We believe Sat-Fi2 ® provides fast and affordable mobile satellite data speeds. Through a convenient smartphone app that enables connectivity between Wi-Fi-enabled devices and Sat-Fi ® satellite hot spots, subscribers in range of a Sat-Fi2 ® device can easily send and receive email and SMS messages and make voice calls from their own device at any time.
Fixed Voice and Data Satellite Communications Services and Equipment and Data Modem Services and Equipment
Among other places, we provide fixed voice and data services in rural villages, at remote industrial, commercial and residential sites and on ships at sea. Fixed voice and data satellite communications services are an attractive alternative to mobile satellite communications services in environments where multiple users will access the services within a defined geographic area and cellular or ground phone service is not available. Our fixed voice and data service plans are similar to our mobile voice and data plans and offer similar flexibility.
In addition to data utilization through fixed and mobile services described above, we offer data-only services through Duplex devices with two-way transmission capabilities. Duplex asset-tracking applications enable customers to directly control their remote assets and perform complex monitoring activities. We offer asynchronous and packet data service in all of our Duplex territories. Customers can use our products to access the internet, corporate virtual private networks and other customer-specific data centers. Our satellite data modems can be activated under any of our current pricing plans.
Product Distribution
Our sales group is responsible for conducting direct sales with key accounts and for managing indirect agent, dealer and reseller relationships. Our typical dealer is a communications services business-to-business equipment retailer. In addition to buying through our distribution managers, agents, dealers and resellers, customers also place orders through our existing sales force and through our direct e-commerce website.
SPOT Consumer Retail Products
The SPOT product family has initiated approximately 7,500 rescues since its launch in 2007. Averaging nearly two rescues per day, SPOT delivers affordable and reliable satellite-based connectivity and real-time GPS tracking to hundreds of thousands of users, completely independent of cellular coverage. We are not aware of any other competitive offering that can match the life-saving record of our SPOT family of products. As we continue to innovate and grow the SPOT family of products, we are committed to providing affordable, life-saving products to an expanding target market of millions of people globally.
We differentiate ourselves from other MSS providers by offering affordable, high-utility mobile satellite products that appeal to both businesses and the mainstream consumer market. We believe that we are the only vertically-integrated mobile satellite company. Our vertical integration results in decreased pre-production costs, greater quality assurance and shorter time to market for our retail consumer products.
SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger
We began commercial sales of the first SPOT products and services when we introduced the SPOT Personal Tracker in 2007. We continue to innovate this product and have released multiple generations of our SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger to the market. The most recent generations of SPOT devices which we currently sell include SPOT Gen4 TM and SPOT X ® . Compared to earlier generations of our SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger, SPOT Gen4 TM offers enhanced functionality with more tracking features in a new mapping interface and improved product specifications for water resistance. The product also enables users to transmit predefined messages to a specific preprogrammed email address, phone or data device, including requests for assistance and “SOS” messages in the event of an emergency.
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SPOT X ® , which was launched in May 2018, is our first two-way SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger with keyboard functionality allowing subscribers to send and receive SMS messages and improved tracking and SOS functions. An upgraded version of SPOT X ® was launched in September 2019 with enhanced performance and features, including the flexibility to use the SPOT X ® device to connect to a smartphone via Bluetooth® wireless technology through the SPOT X ® app to send and receive satellite messages.
We target our SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger to recreational and commercial markets that require personal tracking, emergency location and messaging solutions that operate beyond the reach of terrestrial wireless and wireline coverage. Using our network and web-based mapping software, this device provides consumers with the ability to trace a path geographically or map the location of individuals or equipment. SPOT Satellite GPS Messenger products and services are available virtually everywhere through our product distribution channels and our direct e-commerce website.
SPOT Trace ®
SPOT Trace ® is a cost-effective, anti-theft and asset-tracking device. SPOT Trace ® ensures cars, motorcycles, boats, ATVs, snowmobiles and other valuable assets are where they need to be, notifying owners via email or text anytime movement is detected, using 100% satellite technology to provide location-based messaging and emergency notification for on or off the grid communications.
Product Distribution
We distribute and sell our SPOT products through a variety of distribution channels. We have distribution relationships with a number of "Big Box" retailers and other similar distribution channels, including Amazon, Bass Pro Shops, Cabela's, Camping World, Gander Outdoors, REI, Sportsman's Warehouse, Academy, and West Marine. We also sell SPOT products and services directly using our existing sales force and through our direct e-commerce website, www.findmespot.com, as well as through certain of our IGOs.
Commercial IoT One-Way Transmission Products
Commercial IoT service is currently a one-way data service from an IoT device over the Globalstar System that can be used to track and monitor assets. Our subscribers use our Commercial IoT devices for a host of applications: to track assets, such as cargo containers and rail cars; to monitor utility meters; and to monitor oil and gas assets. At the heart of the Commercial IoT service is a demodulator and RF interface, called an appliqué, which is located at a gateway and an application server in our facilities. The appliqué-equipped gateways provide coverage over vast areas of the globe. The small size of the devices makes them attractive for use in tracking asset shipments, monitoring unattended remote assets, trailer tracking and mobile security. Current users include various governmental agencies, including the Federal Emergency Management Agency (“FEMA”), the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”), the U.S. Forest Service and the U.K. Ministry of Defence, as well as other organizations, including BP, Shell and The Salvation Army.
We designed our Commercial IoT service to address demand in the market for a small and cost-effective solution for sending data, such as geographic coordinates, from assets or individuals in remote locations to a central monitoring station. Customers realize an efficiency advantage from tracking assets on a single global system as compared to several regional systems.
Satellite Transmitter Modules and Chips
We offer small satellite transmitter modules, such as the STX-3 and ST100, and chips, such as the ASIC, which enable an integrator’s products to access our Commercial IoT network. We have sales arrangements with major resellers to market our IoT services, including some value-added resellers that integrate our modules into their proprietary solutions designed to meet certain specialized niche market applications. The STX3 provides additional opportunities to integrate satellite connectivity into products used for vehicle and asset tracking, remote data reporting and data logger reporting that have limited size requirements. Affordable pricing, low power consumption and its small size make the STX3 a highly efficient device ready for integration in a wide variety of applications. The ST100, or ST100 Satellite Transmitter, is a small, lightweight and low power IoT board with embedded antennas. The ST100 offers a customizable approach to new commercial IoT product innovations and can be used by simply adding power, a mechanical enclosure and configuring the settings within the device firmware. For more advanced technical requirements, third parties can write their own firmware on the ST100 and utilize Globalstar APIs, Bluetooth® wireless technology and the serial connector to expand the use of the board and integrate it with other devices or hardware. The ASIC provides a single chip one-way solution that can be embedded in a customer's owns solution.
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SmartOne Asset Managers
We also offer complete products that utilize the STX-3 and ST100 transmitter modules. Our Commercial IoT units, including the enterprise-grade SmartOne family of asset-ready tracking units, are used worldwide by industrial, commercial and government customers. These products provide cost-effective, low-power, ultra-reliable, secure monitoring that help solve a variety of security applications and asset tracking challenges. Partnering with existing third party technology providers, we are developing IoT products to connect existing and new users and accelerate deployment of an expanded Globalstar IoT product suite.
Launched in March 2018, our SmartOne Solar™ device was the first of these products. It is solar-powered and supports similar functionality to our SmartOne suite of products without the need to recharge batteries or line power the device over an expected life of up to ten years. These features will result in a longer field life than existing devices. Solar-powered devices also take advantage of our network's ability to support multiple billions of daily transmissions. The SmartOne Solar™ also has unparalleled safety and environmental certifications including ATEX, IECEx, North America (NEC & CEC), IP68/69K, and HERO.
Product Distribution
The reseller channel for Commercial IoT equipment and service is comprised primarily of value-added resellers and commercial communications equipment companies that retain and bill clients directly, outside of our billing system. Many of our resellers specialize in niche vertical markets where high-use customers are concentrated. We expect that demand for our Commercial IoT products and services will increase as more applications are developed and deployed that utilize our technology.
We are also developing Commercial IoT products that support two-way communications allowing for both tracking and control of assets.
Engineering and Other
We provide engineering services to assist certain customers in developing new applications to operate on our network and to enhance our ground network. These services include hardware and software designs to develop specific applications operating over our network, as well as the installation of gateways and antennas.
In February 2020, we entered into an agreement (i) providing for a potential customer to pay us for non-recurring engineering (NRE) services in connection with the assessment of a potential service utilizing certain of our assets and capacity, and (ii) setting forth the primary terms for the potential development and operation of the service (the “Terms Agreement”). The Terms Agreement does not provide for material payments to us or impose material obligations on us unless, among other things, we and the potential customer have achieved certain technical milestones. The Terms Agreement includes certain binding protective provisions, including an exclusivity provision not affecting current services, access rights related to the affected assets, certain information rights and certain provisions for future financings. The Terms Agreement may be terminated by the customer at any time in its sole discretion.
Independent Gateway Operators
Our wholesale operations encompass primarily bulk sales of wholesale minutes to IGOs around the globe. IGOs maintain their own subscriber bases that are mostly exclusive to us and promote their own service plans. The IGO system allows us to expand in regions that hold significant growth potential but are harder to serve without sufficient operational scale or where local regulatory requirements do not permit us to operate directly.
As of December 31, 2020, we had four IGOs that own gateways in Australia, South Korea, Russia and Turkey. Except for Globalstar Asia Pacific, our joint venture in South Korea in which we hold a 49% equity interest, we have no financial interest in these IGOs and conduct business with them through arms’ length contracts for wholesale minutes of service. During 2020, we entered into an agreement to acquire the outstanding 51% equity interest in our joint venture in South Korea and expect the acquisition to close in 2021.
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Spectrum and Regulatory Structure
We benefit from a world-wide allocation of radio frequency spectrum in the international radio frequency tables administered by the International Telecommunications Union (“ITU”). Access to this globally harmonized spectrum enables us to design satellites, networks and terrestrial infrastructure enhancements more cost effectively because the products and services can be deployed and sold worldwide. In addition, this broad spectrum assignment enhances our ability to capitalize on existing and emerging wireless and broadband applications.
Satellite Network
In the United States, the Federal Communications Commission ("FCC") has authorized us to operate between 1610-1618.725 MHz for “Uplink” communications from mobile earth terminals to our satellites and between 2483.5-2500 MHz for “Downlink” communications from our satellites to our mobile earth terminals. The FCC has also authorized us to operate our domestic gateways with our first-generation satellites in the 5091-5250 and 6875-7055 MHz bands.
Three of our subsidiaries hold our FCC licenses. Globalstar Licensee LLC holds our MSS license. GUSA Licensee LLC (“GUSA”) is authorized by the FCC to distribute mobile and fixed subscriber terminals and to operate gateways in the United States. GUSA holds the licenses for our gateways in Texas, Florida and Alaska. Another subsidiary, GCL Licensee LLC (“GCL”), holds an FCC license to operate a gateway in Puerto Rico. GCL is also subject to regulation by the Puerto Rican Telecommunications Regulatory Board.
Our prior Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit (“NGSO”) satellite constellation license issued by the FCC is valid until October 2024. This license applies only to our continued use of our first-generation satellites.
We licensed and registered our second-generation satellites in France. We also obtained all authorizations necessary from the FCC to operate our domestic gateways with our second-generation satellites. In accordance with our authorization to operate the second-generation satellites, we completed the enhancements to the existing gateway operations in Aussaguel, France to include satellite operations and control functions. We have redundant satellite operation control facilities in Covington, Louisiana, Milpitas, California and Aussaguel, France.
The frequency assignments filed on the behalf of Globalstar by the French National Frequencies Agency (“ANFR”), with the ITU in 2009, have been recorded in the Master international Frequency Register ("MIFR"). This recording of the Globalstar frequency assignments in the MIFR provides international recognition of these assignments and facilitates the use of these assignments while the frequency coordination process with the two remaining systems is completed.
During 2020, our French authorizations to provide MSS and operate the gateway in Aussaguel, France were renewed for an additional 10-year term.
Terrestrial Authority for Globalstar's Licensed 2.4 GHz Spectrum
In December 2016, the FCC unanimously adopted a Report and Order permitting us to seek modification of our existing MSS licenses to provide terrestrial broadband services over 11.5 MHz of our licensed Mobile Satellite Services spectrum at 2483.5 to 2495 MHz throughout the United States of America and its Territories. In August 2017, the FCC modified Globalstar's MSS licenses, granting us authority to provide terrestrial broadband services over that 11.5 MHz portion of our satellite spectrum. Specifically, the FCC modified our space station authorization and our blanket mobile earth station license to permit a terrestrial network using 11.5 MHz of our licensed mobile-satellite service spectrum. We will need to comply with certain conditions in order to provide terrestrial broadband service over this spectrum.
In December 2018, we successfully completed the Third Generation Partnership Project (“3GPP”) standardization process for the 11.5 MHz of spectrum terrestrially authorized by the FCC. The 3GPP designated the band as Band 53. Additionally, in March 2020, we announced that the 3GPP approved the 5G variant of our Band 53, which is known as n53. This new band class provides a pathway for our terrestrial spectrum to be integrated into handset and infrastructure ecosystems. Additional follow-on 3GPP specifications and approvals are expected in the future. In February 2021, Qualcomm Technologies announced its new Snapdragon X65 modem-RF System, which includes support for Band n53. By having global 5G band support for n53 in Qualcomm Technologies’ 5G solutions, our potential device ecosystem expands significantly to include the most popular smartphones, laptops, tablets, automated equipment and other IoT modules.
During 2019, we executed a spectrum managers lease with Nokia in order to permit Nokia to utilize Band 53 within its equipment domestically and have such equipment type-certified for sale and deployment.
We believe our MSS spectrum position provides potential for harmonized terrestrial authority across many international
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regulatory domains and have been seeking approvals in various international jurisdictions. To date, we have received terrestrial authorizations in various countries. including Brazil, Canada and South Africa, among others. We expect this global effort to continue for the foreseeable future while we seek additional terrestrial approvals to internationally harmonize our S-band spectrum across the entire 16.5 MHz authority for terrestrial mobile broadband services.
We expect our terrestrial authority will allow future partners to develop high-density dedicated networks using the TD-LTE protocol for private LTE networks as well as the densification of cellular networks. We believe that our offering has competitive advantages over other conventional commercial spectrum allocations. Such other allocations must meet minimum population coverage requirements, which effectively prohibit the exclusive use of most carrier spectrum for dedicated small cell deployments. In addition, low frequency carrier spectrum is not physically well suited to high-density small cell topologies, and mmWave spectrum is subject to range and attenuation limitations. We believe that our licensed 2.4 GHz band holds physical, regulatory and ecosystem qualities that distinguishes it from other current and anticipated allocations, and that it is well positioned to balance favorable range, capacity and attenuation characteristics.
National Regulation of Service Providers
In order to operate gateways, applicable laws and regulations require the IGOs and our affiliates in each country to obtain a license or licenses from that country's telecommunications regulatory authority. In addition, the gateway operator must enter into appropriate interconnection and financial settlement agreements with local and interexchange telecommunications providers. All gateways operated by us or the IGOs are licensed by the appropriate regulatory authority.
Our subscriber equipment generally must be type certified in countries in which it is sold or leased. The manufacturers of the equipment and our affiliates or IGOs are jointly responsible for securing type certification. We have received type certification in multiple countries for each of our products.
Industry
We compete in the MSS sector of the global communications industry. MSS operators provide voice and data services using a network of one or more satellites and associated ground facilities. Mobile satellite services are usually complementary to, and interconnected with, other forms of terrestrial communications services and infrastructure and are intended to respond to users' desires for connectivity at all times and locations. Customers typically use satellite voice and data communications in situations where existing terrestrial wireline and wireless communications networks are impaired or do not exist.
Worldwide, government organizations, military, natural disaster aid associations, event-driven response agencies and corporate security teams depend on mobile and fixed voice and data communications services on a regular basis. Businesses with global operations require communications services when operating in remote locations around the world. MSS users span the forestry, maritime, government, oil and gas, mining, leisure, emergency services, construction and transportation sectors, among others.
Over the past two decades, the global MSS market has experienced significant growth. Increasingly, better-tailored, improved technology products and services are creating new channels of demand for mobile satellite services. Growth in demand for mobile satellite services is driven by the declining cost of these services, the diminishing size and lower cost of the devices, as well as heightened demand by governments, businesses and individuals for ubiquitous global voice and data coverage. Growth in mobile satellite data services is driven by the rollout of new applications requiring higher bandwidth, as well as low-cost data collection and asset-tracking devices and technological improvements permitting integration of mobile satellite services over smartphones and other Wi-Fi enabled devices.
Communications industry sectors that are relevant to our business include:
• MSS, which provide customers with connectivity to mobile and fixed devices using a network of satellites and ground facilities;
• fixed satellite services, which use geostationary satellites to provide customers with voice and broadband communications links between fixed points on the earth's surface; and
• terrestrial services, which use a terrestrial network to provide wireless or wireline connectivity and are complementary to satellite services.
Within the major satellite sectors, fixed and MSS operators differ significantly from each other. Fixed satellite services providers, such as Intelsat Ltd., Eutelsat Communications and SES S.A., and aperture terminal companies, such as Hughes and Gilat Satellite Networks, are characterized by large, often stationary or "fixed," ground terminals that send and receive high-
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bandwidth signals to and from the satellite network for video and high speed data customers and international telephone markets. On the other hand, MSS providers, such as Globalstar, ORBCOMM, Inmarsat PLC (“Inmarsat”) and Iridium Communications Inc. (“Iridium”), focus more on voice and/or data services (including data services which track the location of remote assets such as shipping containers), where mobility or small-sized terminals are essential. As mobile satellite terminals begin to offer higher bandwidth to support a wider range of applications, we expect MSS operators will increasingly compete with fixed satellite services operators.
LEO systems reduce transmission delay compared to a geosynchronous system due to the shorter distance signals have to travel. In addition, LEO systems are less prone to signal blockage and, consequently, we believe provide a better overall quality of service.
Competition
The global communications industry is highly competitive. We currently face substantial competition from other service providers that offer a range of mobile and fixed communications options. Our most direct competition comes from other global MSS providers. Our largest global competitors are ORBCOMM, Inmarsat and Iridium. We compete primarily on the basis of coverage, quality, portability and pricing of services and products. In recent years, advancements in technology have also encouraged non-traditional companies to enter the market.
Inmarsat owns and operates a fleet of geostationary satellites. Due to its multiple-satellite geostationary system, Inmarsat's coverage area extends to and covers most bodies of water more completely than our system. Accordingly, Inmarsat is the leading provider of satellite communications services to the maritime sector. Inmarsat also offers global land-based and aeronautical communications services. We compete with Inmarsat in several key areas, particularly in our maritime markets. Inmarsat markets mobile handsets designed to compete with both Iridium’s mobile handset service and our GSP-1700 handset service.
Iridium owns and operates a fleet of low earth orbit satellites. Iridium provides voice and data communications to businesses, United States and foreign governments, non-governmental organizations and consumers. Iridium markets products and services that are similar to those marketed by us. Additionally, Garmin's inReach devices provide two-way tracking with SOS capabilities, Honeywell Global Tracking has a personal tracking unit that enables a smartphone with satellite tracking and messaging capabilities and Somewear has a satellite hotspot; these products work on Iridium's satellite network.
ORBCOMM owns and operates a fleet of low earth orbit satellites. ORBCOMM primarily provides asset tracking, monitoring and control solutions for its customers in the IoT market, which directly compete with our IoT products and services.
We compete with regional mobile satellite communications services in several markets. In these cases, our competitors serve customers who require regional, not global, mobile voice and data services, so our competitors present a viable alternative to our services. All of these competitors operate geostationary satellites. Our principal regional MSS competitor in the Middle East and Africa is Thuraya.
In some of our markets, such as rural telephony, we compete directly or indirectly with very small aperture terminal (“VSAT”) operators that offer communications services through private networks using very small aperture terminals or hybrid systems to target business users. VSAT operators have become increasingly competitive due to technological advances that have resulted in smaller, more flexible and cheaper terminals.
We compete indirectly with terrestrial wireline (“landline”) and wireless communications networks. We provide service in areas that are inadequately covered by these ground systems. To the extent that terrestrial communications companies invest in underdeveloped areas, we will face increased competition in those areas.
Our SPOT products compete indirectly with Personal Locator Beacons (“PLB”s). A variety of manufacturers offer PLBs to industry specifications.
Our industry has significant barriers to entry, including the cost and difficulty associated with obtaining spectrum licenses and successfully building and launching a satellite network. In addition to cost, there is a significant amount of lead-time associated with obtaining the required licenses, designing and building the satellite constellation and synchronizing the network technology.
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Governmental Regulations
Please refer to Item 1A: Risk Factors - " Risks Related to Government Regulations" for further discussion of the impact of governmental regulations on our business.
United States International Traffic in Arms Regulations and United States Export Administration Regulations
The United States International Traffic in Arms regulations under the United States Arms Export Control Act authorize the President of the United States to control the export and import of articles and services that can be used in the production of arms. The President has delegated this authority to the U.S. Department of State, Directorate of Defense Trade Controls. United States Export Administration Regulations enforced by the United States Bureau of Industry and Security, as well as regulations enforced by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control regulate the export of certain products, services, and associated technical data. Among other things, these regulations limit the ability to export certain articles and related technical data to certain nations. Some information involved in the performance of our operations falls within the scope of these regulations. As a result, we may have to obtain an export authorization or restrict access to that information by international companies that are our vendors or service providers. We have received and expect to continue to receive export licenses for covered articles and technical data shared with approved parties outside the United States. We also are subject to restrictions related to transactions with persons subject to United States or foreign sanctions. These regulations, enforced by the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control, limit our ability to offer services and equipment to certain parties or in certain areas.
Environmental Matters
We are subject to various laws and regulations relating to the protection of the environment and human health and safety (including those governing the management, storage and disposal of hazardous materials). Some of our operations require continuous power supply. As a result, current and historical operations at our ground facilities, including our gateways, include storing fuels and batteries, which may contain hazardous materials, to power back-up generators. As an owner or operator of property and in connection with our current and historical operations, we could incur significant costs, including cleanup costs, fines, sanctions and third-party claims, as a result of violations of or in connection with liabilities under environmental laws and regulations.
Foreign Operations
We supply services and products to a number of foreign customers. Although most of our sales are denominated in U.S. dollars, we are exposed to currency risk for sales in Canada, Europe, Brazil and various other countries. In 2020, approximately 28% of our sales were generated in foreign countries, which generally are denominated in local currencies. See Note 2: Revenue in the Consolidated Financial Statements for additional information regarding revenue by country. For more information about our exposure to risks related to foreign locations, see Item 1A: Risk Factors - " We face special risks by doing business in international markets and developing markets, including currency and expropriation risks, which could increase our costs or reduce our revenues in these areas."
Intellectual Property
We hold various U.S. and foreign patents and patents pending that expire between 2021 and 2035. These patents cover many aspects of our satellite system, our global network and our user terminals. In recent years, we have reduced our foreign filings and decided to allow some previously granted foreign patents to lapse based on (a) the relative significance of the patent, (b) our assessment of the likelihood that someone would infringe in the foreign country, and (c) the probability that we could or would enforce the patent in light of the expense of filing and maintaining the foreign patent which, in some countries, is quite substantial. We continue to maintain all of the patents in the United States, Canada and Europe that we believe are important to our business. Our intellectual property is pledged as security for our obligations under our senior secured credit facility agreement (the “First Lien Facility Agreement”) and second lien credit facility agreement (the "Second Lien Facility Agreement").
Human Capital
As of December 31, 2020, we had 346 employees in twelve countries around the world; 23 of our employees were located in Brazil and subject to collective bargaining agreements. We consider our relationship with our employees to be good.
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Our compensation and benefit packages are designed to attract and retain employees and were developed using market research. We attract employees through various platforms, such as online job portals, in-person job fairs, local universities and employee referrals. Salaries are competitive and based on job position, physical location, experience and skills. In addition to base salary, certain employees participate in longer-term incentive programs, which includes awards of stock-based compensation. Our benefits packages include, but are not limited to, health insurance, a retirement plan, an employee stock purchase plan, flexible spending accounts, life and accidental injury insurance, long- and short-term disability, and paid time off for holidays, vacation, sick time and parental leave.
We also encourage training and development through Globalstar University, which is an online platform that hosts a variety of training programs ranging from leadership and management programs to technical, on the job training. Employee engagement is also important for us, and includes an interactive wellness program, corporate communications and employee surveys. Our commitment to diversity and inclusion is part of our worldwide culture, which our employees confirmed in our most recent employee survey with "Diversity and Inclusion" being one of the highest rated culture categories.
Seasonality
Usage on the network and, to some extent, sales are subject to seasonal and situational changes. April through October are typically our peak months for usage-based service revenues and equipment sales. We also experience event-driven revenue fluctuations in our business. Most notably, emergencies, natural disasters and other sizable projects where satellite-based communications devices are the only solution may generate an increase in revenue. In the consumer area, SPOT devices sales are influenced by outdoor and leisure activity opportunities, as well as our promotional efforts.
Services and Equipment
Sales of services accounted for approximately 88%, 86% and 85% of our total revenues for 2020, 2019, and 2018, respectively. We also sell the related voice and data equipment to our customers, which accounted for approximately 12%, 14% and 15% of our total revenues for 2020, 2019, and 2018, respectively.
Additional Information
We file annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”). The SEC maintains an internet site that contains annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy and information statements and other information that issuers (including Globalstar) file electronically with the SEC. Our electronic SEC filings are available to the public at the SEC's internet site, www.sec.gov .
We make available free of charge financial information, news releases, SEC filings, including our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to these reports on our website at www.globalstar.com as soon as reasonably practical after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The documents available on, and the contents of, our website are not incorporated by reference into this Report.