COMSAT,
or the Communications Satellite Corporation, was created in 1962
with the passage of the Communications Satellite Act. The act authorized
the formation of a private corporation to administer satellite communications
for the United States. COMSAT was given responsibility for many
activities including the development of a global satellite communications
system, the acquisition and maintenance of ground stations around
the world, and the development of new satellite technologies. COMSAT
is governed by a Board of Directors elected by the company's shareholders
and the President of the United States. Half of the company's shares
are owned by major communications companies such as AT and T, ITT,
and Western Union, and the rest are held by members of the public.
COMSAT has offices worldwide and its headquarters are located in
Washington, D.C.
COMSAT
emerged amidst a public controversy staged in a series of congressional
hearings from 1961-62. During these hearings public advocates and
private businesses struggled for control over satellite communications
in the United States. Senators Morse and Kefauver and Congressman
Celler formed an alliance against the privatization of COMSAT and
rallied support from the American Communication Association-a union
of telecommunications workers-as well as Assistant Attorney General
Lee Loevinger and communications scholars Dallas Smythe and Herbert
Schiller. Concerned that the privatization of COMSAT would strengthen
the private sector's control over public airwaves, they called for
further public participation in the hearings and government ownership
of satellite communications. Senator Kerr, on the other hand, formed
an alliance led by major communications companies such as RCA and
AT and T and proposed a bill that called for the privatization of
satellite communications. Kerr insisted that space communication
offered new business opportunities that would benefit the private
sector, the nation and the world. Pressure from both sides ultimately
culminated in the creation of a "government corporation" designed
to operate as a private business and yet act in the public interest.
Throughout its history, COMSAT has faced the difficult challenge
of negotiating the often contradictory interests of private enterprise
and the public good. The organization has historically favored the
business end of its mandate.
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Courtesy of COMSAT
COMSAT
was established as a "carrier's carrier." This meant that COMSAT
could not sell satellite circuits directly to broadcasters, news
agencies and other customers for overseas communication. Rather,
the company could only sell circuits wholesale to other communications
carriers and allow them to resell them. COMSAT must pursue customers
to buy satellite time in order to recover the high cost of developing
new satellite systems. Its customers range from national governments
to common carriers. COMSAT maintains liaisons with private businesses
and national governments around the world, and, at the same time,
must fill its mandate to conduct business negotiations in the interest
of the American public.
In
1964, COMSAT representatives participated in international negotiations
that led to the creation of Intelsat-the International Telecommunications
Satellite Organization. Intelsat still exists today and is a global
satellite network that provides developing nations with access to
communications satellites for domestic communications. The United
States owns more than 50% of Intelsat, and COMSAT has managed the
organization since 1964. In 1965, COMSAT launched Early Bird-the
first commercial communications satellite. Early Bird relayed common
carrier network traffic, telephone, television telegraph and digital
data as well as voice bandwidth analog data such as facsimile and
wire photo transmittals. The satellite was deployed to evaluate
the viability of synchronous satellites for commercial communications
and to supplement the capacity of trans-Atlantic cables. In 1980,
COMSAT formed a subsidiary company called the Satellite Television
Company (STC) to design and launch the United States' first direct
broadcast satellite. Despite the STC's efforts, its domestic satellite
system was thwarted when the FCC denied its application because
of the STC's failure to demonstrate how satellite programming would
differ from that offered by cable or network television. Today,
COMSAT operates as the United States signatory to Intelsat and Inmarsat
(International Maritime Satellite Organization). The company still
sells satellite circuits to private companies and governments around
the world for national and international communication. COMSAT laboratories
located in Clarksburg, Maryland have been responsible for a variety
of technical developments in satellite and wireless communications
including coding and transmission, networking and multiple access,
space-qualified electronics and power sources, antennas, and many
others.
-Lisa
Parks
FURTHER READING
Kinsley,
Michael E. Outer Space and Inner Sanctums: Government, Business,
And Satellite Communication. New York: Wiley, 1976.
Maddox,
Brenda. Beyond Babel: New Directions In Communications. London:
Andre Deutsch, 1972.
Schiller,
Herbert I. Mass Communications and American Empire. Boulder:
Westview, 1992.
See
also Satellite
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