Chapter 306: The Prototype of the Starlink Project

The investment bank discovered that Motorola's Starlink project was even better than the Pacific satellite plan. After all, larger television stations had their own satellites.

In fact, even some small countries were unlikely to rent satellites long-term. Many television stations were state-owned, and they would never relinquish their propaganda channels.

What made Motorola's Starlink project most appealing was that this clever guy managed to bypass the ground receiving stations.

In other words, William White's previous worries turned out to be unfounded paranoia. You were just a tech novice, putting on airs like you were something special.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, sir, they plan to use 66 low-orbit satellites to create a seamless connection."

"Filson, I get your point: satellite phones can connect directly without a receiving station. But if users want to make a landline call, they'll still need a port. That could drive prices sky-high."

"Exactly. It's expected to exceed five bucks a minute, but if the user count hits projections, the price could drop below three."

"Well, even if it sounds a bit shaky, we should invest a little. Otherwise, the Galvin family will lose face."

As long as he wasn't the main investor, William White didn't care much for this toy. He would use it plenty himself. Sadly, this plan ultimately fizzled out, leading to complete financial loss. Those satellites ended up being decommissioned and marked a thorough defeat.

Bankruptcies and restructurings were commonplace in the U.S., happening almost daily. However, situations like that of the Starlink company were rare; eventually, this multi-billion dollar investment company became unsellable.

You might ask, if you knew it was a pitfall, why jump in?

This was earnest; everyone was scrutinizing him. It wasn't necessary to overperform. Facing some setbacks wasn't going to affect the big picture; actually standing out too much could backfire.

William White's involvement made the Galvin family quite pleased. They weren't concerned about the tens of millions; what mattered was that William White was investing.

True, he had his fair share of failures, but he mostly avoided blunders. The funds under the White family had grown substantial. They believed that after this successful investment, William White's assets would take a significant leap.

The influence of role models can be crucial. Previously considered a fanciful idea, the project seemed to hold real potential now.

...

"Are you sure? He actually signed off on such an unreliable plan?"

"Sir, the analysts think the competition for cellular phones is heating up; if it keeps up, developing a terminal customer will cost over fifty bucks."

"Well, what a shame. If the Bells had handled it, it wouldn't be in this mess."

"The so-called Starlink plan is just launching the cellular phone towers into space. The idea itself is quite interesting."

...

Honestly, when William White saw the Motorola engineers demo it, he nearly choked on his coffee.

Are you serious? You can contact anyone just under the sky? You call that a slogan?

For someone who often did bad things, standing in the sun wasn't a big deal. But if it turned cloudy, better play it safe -- getting struck by lightning would be downright embarrassing.

He just couldn't comprehend that if he was using a satellite phone, it must involve something highly confidential. Isn't it supposed to be something you whispered about in secret?

Looking at the heavy brick in his hand, William White felt nostalgic. While a bit impractical, it was certainly better than that satellite phone.

Once he returned to his turf, William White couldn't help but vent.

"Filson, I'm just a tech novice here. Can you explain why cellular phones don't need to be used under the sun, but satellite phones do? Is this thing a solar-powered phone?"

Filson felt frustrated by the boss's complaint. His gut told him this gadget was indeed very unreliable.

"I'll check it out later; there's no way they wouldn't care about something this simple."

"Just ask in the lab. No need to rain on the parade."

"Sure, I got it, sir."

If not for their partnership, William White would've bolted.

In fact, he thought Motorola was being redundant. Why complicate things when they could just lease military communication lines?

Like the Internet, while initially designed for military purposes, it was also a tremendous waste.

The Starlink project was massive, and compared to military systems, it really was nothing. As for usage frequency, over 95% was actually idle.

...

After wrapping up the satellite phone, the development project for the second generation mobile phone had already kicked off. Though it was still analog, it started shifting toward portable designs.

As a self-defense tool, a giant brick was still decent. But as a mobile phone, it was just a pain.

Achieving all this wouldn't be easy. First off, the electronic components were far too large. Then there was the issue of heat dissipation; blindly downsizing could result in a Macintosh-like disaster.

Of course, none of this was urgent. The so-called GSM was just a concept for now. Many companies were researching it, speeding up progress but making it a chaotic mess.

Becoming a unified standard was not going to be an easy feat.

European scientists were nothing like those in the U.S. They were rather stubborn; if you couldn't overpower them in tech, it would lead to a tangled situation.

Most importantly, Bell Labs was also working on it. A few years down the line, it might not be clear whose patents would matter more.

Both were patents, but if Motorola got their product out first, the situation in Europe could turn ugly. After all, an invention patent is one thing; having a product is a different matter entirely.

*****

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