Iridium Gets Pentagon Contract

Iridium Satellite, operator of a satellite-telephone network, won a two-year Defense Department contract worth as much as $72 million to provide unlimited monthly service. The company, which purchased the assets of bankrupt Iridium last month, will provide service for the estimated 3,000 handsets for the satellite-based system now owned by the Pentagon and the State Department, the Pentagon said. The contract covers service for as many as 20,000 phones at $3 million a month. Iridium filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 1999 after the $7-billion project attracted just 20,000 subscribers.