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ICO Global Communications Ltd. (ICOGF) Friday became the second global, mobile satellite company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection within the past two weeks.
The filing is intended to "buy time" to allow ICO to complete its latest round of financing, ICO's London-based spokesman told Satellite News Senior Analyst Paul Dykewicz. ICO's filing in Delaware's federal bankruptcy court comes two weeks to the day after one of the London-based company's two major competitors, satellite- telephone-pioneer Iridium LLC (IRID), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at the same courthouse after the company defaulted on $1.55 billion in bank loans.
With both ICO and Iridium now in bankruptcy and no guarantee either will receive a long-term bailout, industry analysts said the market for handheld satellite-phones may be left to Globalstar Telecommunications Ltd. (GSTRF), which plans to launch its...