HOUSTON, March 27 /PRNewswire/ -- SkyComm International broke ground today
on a "third coast" international teleport and control center. This Gulf Coast
teleport, near the Johnson Space Center at Ellington Field, will transport
broadband data, voice and video services using satellite and fiber optic
circuits. Expected to be fully operational during the third quarter of this
year, this secure shared-use facility will be a multi-million dollar global
hub/gateway for the energy, government, telemedicine, financial and aerospace
industries.
SkyComm is installing 13.1-meter antennas, engineered with the most
current components, during the first phase of construction. Each antenna will
be about four stories tall and enable SkyComm to provide the highest
utilization of satellite capacity, lowering customer costs at both ends, by
increasing domestic efficiencies and reducing equipment costs on foreign
soils. The lack of "long-haul" costs, due to the port's location near its
clients, means even greater savings. Metro "last mile" problems are reduced
through fiber agreements between SkyComm and its metro service providers.
"While these points are of interest to other industries as well, we are
particularly excited about what this means to the energy industry in global
offshore environments including the Gulf of Mexico," SkyComm President and CEO
Bill B. McCrary, said. "The SkyComm teleport will serve as a bridge providing
local companies with an enterprise Wide Area Network (WAN) spanning four
continents and the oceans between."
SkyComm will provide turnkey communication services to clients who require
particularly tight security for data. The presence of military and
governmental interests at Ellington Field means the teleport site will be
physically secure. The company accesses multiple satellites to provide
digital connections to commercial and governmental entities in any environment
in the world, including remote deserts, jungles and oceans. It includes
redundant systems for electrical power and fiber optic circuitry. The thirty-
year lease with the City of Houston includes an option for additional acreage
and also provides for two five-year extensions.
SkyComm is headquartered in Houston. Its management team includes
engineers and communication specialists who pioneered space communications at
NASA during the Mercury, Apollo and Space Shuttle programs and who have
experience in every phase of the domestic and international satellite
industry.
CenturyTel, Inc. (NYSE: CTL) and others hold interests in SkyComm.
CenturyTel, headquartered in Monroe, La., is an Independent Local Exchange
Carrier (ILEC) with annual revenues exceeding $1.9 billion and serving
customers in 22 states.
For more information about service availability or SkyComm's technology,
contact McCrary, CTO Charles K. Stack or CFO Thomas S. Orem at (281) 272-7500,
or write to SkyComm International, 2 Northpoint Drive, Suite 230, Houston,
Texas 77060.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Media Contact: Greg Berlocher, (281) 568-4666, BigRedfish@aol.com
Company Personnel's Phone Number: (281) 272-7500
Bill B. McCrary, President & Chief Executive Officer, billb@sky-com.com
Charles K. Stack, Vice President and CTO, cstack@sky-com.com
Thomas S. Orem, Chief Financial Officer, torem@sky-com.com
SOURCE SkyComm International, Inc.
-0- 03/27/2003
/CONTACT: media, Greg Berlocher, +1-281-568-4666, or BigRedfish@aol.com ,
for SkyComm International, Inc.; or Bill B. McCrary, President & Chief
Executive Officer, billb@sky-com.com , or Charles K. Stack, Vice President and
CTO, cstack@sky-com.com , or Thomas S. Orem, Chief Financial Officer,
torem@sky-com.com , all of SkyComm International, Inc., +1-281-272-7500/
(CTL)
CO: SkyComm International, Inc.; CenturyTel, Inc.
ST: Texas, Louisiana
IN: CPR TLS NET
SU:
JS-AW
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4229 03/27/2003 13:00 EST http://www.prnewswire.com