Iridium US user figures up 25 per cent

Troubled cellphone-by-satellite provider Iridium today trumpeted its North American sales operation's successful attempt to boost its subscriber base. So, Iridium North America now has 25 per cent more subscribers than it did since it cut call and phone prices back in June. It's a shame, though, the company neglected to mention how many users started off with, making it impossible to tell whether this latest increase is in anyway significant. By the end of March, the company had 10,000 subscribers worldwide. The latest hints from the company put that at just over 20,000. Certainly since the company issued the original figure, the US government has bought at least 1000 accounts, so that will have helped pump up Iridium North America's share of the subscriber-base. On that basis alone, Iridium has just 5000 US subscribers now. The figure is probably somewhat higher, but it's still not really enough to inspire confidence. ® Related Stories eBay bans $6500 Iridium share auction Iridium shares up for grabs on eBay Iridium asks shareholders to cut stakes by 40 per cent Iridium to enter Chapter 11