Iridium service, a satellite-based global communications service, completes ten-year preparation work and launches worldwide service on November 1, 1998 as scheduled.

Over the long preparation period, Iridium have conducted hundreds of thousands of test calls to ensure complete interoperability between the satellites and the earth stations and between wire and wireless networks. By obtaining the license to operate in 121 nations worldwide as of the end of October, Iridium is ready to deliver global communications services to users all over the planet.

SK Telecom says that the service will become available first to the people who ordered the satellite communications terminals and the ones who are in urgent need to use the service. The dual mode terminals enabling both satellite and cellular communication are scheduled to become available from mid-December when the supply of the CDMA cellular kits will become plentiful.

On top of enabling a one hundred percent global roaming, Iridium offers paging and "calling card" services. Data and facsimile transfer services and on-air service will be available additionally in April, 1999. Users will be able to choose services they wish to use from a wide array of available services.