The Globalstar system is designed to produce high quality satellite-based telephony services to a broad range of users. Globalstar meets those needs of cellular users who roam outside of coverage areas and people who work in remote areas where terrestrial systems do not exist. Globalstar travelers can have reliable communications while residents of under-served markets can use fixed-site phones to satisfy their needs for basic telephony. Globalstar phones look and work like mobile or fixed phones with which you're familiar. The difference between the two is that the Globalstar satellite phone extends your coverage area far beyond existing phone networks, carrying your call over an exceptionally clear, secure Code Divisional Multiple Access (CDMA) satellite signal. Globalstar has a constellation of 48 Low-Earth Orbiting (LEO) satellites that pick up signals from over 80% of the Earth's surface, (except the extreme Polar Regions and some mid-ocean regions). When several satellites pick up a call, this "path diversity" reduces the possibility of blocked or dropped calls. If buildings or terrain block the phone's line-of-sight to a satellite, a "soft hand-off" will take the place switching the call to an another satellite with no interruption. This satellite continues transmission of the original signal to one of several terrestrial "gateways." With Globalstar, you will have the additional advantages of using low-earth orbiting satellites without any perceptible voice delays and receive lighter/smaller all-in-one handsets.

When the gateways process calls, they distribute them to an existing fixed and cellular local network. Terrestrial gateways are an important aspect of Globalstar's strategy to keep its technology and equipment easily accessible and to integrate the services as close as possible with existing local telephony networks. This design helps make the Globalstar telephone system and services easy to manage, expand and improve.