STOCKHOLM 15 Jan 99 



Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson said Thursday it was forming a satellite air interface standard named GMSS with U.S. Lockheed Martin, U.K. Matra Marconi Space and satellite operators Asia Cellular Satellite and Euro-African Satellite Telecommunications.

"This groundbreaking initiative by satellite system operators, satellite manufacturers, terminal vendors and system manufacturers will enable mobile phone users to communicate in all parts of the world where the standard is operating,'' Ericsson said in a statement.

GMSS, which stands for Geostationary Mobile Satellite Standard, will be developed from GSM, the world-wide cellular standard, the statement said.

Consumers would benefit from the deal by being able to use mobile phones that are compatible with several satellite systems in any country where the GMSS was offered, while phone manufacturers would benefit from economies of scale.

"GMSS ensures a more rapid market penetration and allows service providers to attract new subscribers while increasing and developing their service,'' the statement added