WEBVTT - Bloom on New Book, 'Eccentric Orbits: The Iridium Story'(Audio)

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<v Speaker 1>Broadcasting live to New York, Bloomberg eleventh Rio to Washington,

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<v Speaker 1>d C. Bloom to Boston, Bloomberg twelve hundred to San Francisco,

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg nine to the Country's Zoie's Exam Channel one, and

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<v Speaker 1>around the globe. The Bloomberg Radio Plus happened. Bloomberg got gone.

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<v Speaker 1>This is taking Stock, coming up on taking Stock, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>in Vice President, then Vice President of the United States,

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<v Speaker 1>Al Gore made the first irridium telephone call. This iridium technology,

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<v Speaker 1>by placing satellites in orbit, was supposed to revolutionize the

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<v Speaker 1>way telephone conversations and data were transmitted. When we've got

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<v Speaker 1>details from John bloom whose new book Eccentric Orbits, The

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<v Speaker 1>Irridium Story gives us the details of the company's history.

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<v Speaker 1>I want more details on today's big business news, piem.

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<v Speaker 1>Let's go right to Charlie Pellett in the news room

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<v Speaker 1>with the Bloomberg Business Class, and I think I watch Kathleen.

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<v Speaker 1>Thank you, Pam. We've got the SMP five hundred index

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<v Speaker 1>on track for its biggest gain in a month, that

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<v Speaker 1>index moving within one point four percent of a record.

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<v Speaker 1>We are brought to you by National Realty Providers of

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<v Speaker 1>one hundred percent satisfaction guaranteed. New York City Realty investments.

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<v Speaker 1>See them at n r I A dot net SMP

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<v Speaker 1>five hundred index up nineteen now gaining nine tenths of

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<v Speaker 1>one percent to four down. Industrials up one hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>fifty eight points up nine tenths of one percent. Nestack

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<v Speaker 1>up fifty four a gain of one point one percent,

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<v Speaker 1>the tenure down fourteen thirty seconds with the yield of

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<v Speaker 1>one point seven three percent. Gold Laurel All Day down

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<v Speaker 1>five thirty to twelve sixty four, a drop of four

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<v Speaker 1>tenths of one percent. Well, what about the interest rate

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<v Speaker 1>environment and what happens when fed share? Janet Yellen and

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<v Speaker 1>other members of the f O m C meet next month.

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<v Speaker 1>Bob Michael is Global Chief Investment Officer and head of

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<v Speaker 1>Global fixed Income at JP Morgan Investment Management. Certainly, when

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<v Speaker 1>you look at what's priced in the market, there's a

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<v Speaker 1>one in ten chants, But she does say every meeting

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<v Speaker 1>is live, they will be data dependent. I think the

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<v Speaker 1>big date debate is will there be enough data between

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<v Speaker 1>now and and the mid July meeting for her to

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<v Speaker 1>make a change. First day out fort Toilio, it is

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<v Speaker 1>a maker of mobile and web apps, backed by Bessemer

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<v Speaker 1>Venture Partners. Shares our surging six point four percent. Crude

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<v Speaker 1>oil up ninety two cents a barrel fifty four cents

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<v Speaker 1>right now on West Texas Intermediate. That is a gain

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<v Speaker 1>of one point nine percent and a three thirty two

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<v Speaker 1>on Wall Street. Now, let's take a look at other

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<v Speaker 1>news from around the world on Bloomberg Radio. Thank you,

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<v Speaker 1>Charlie from the Bloomberg Newsroom. I'm Jill Schneider. This news

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<v Speaker 1>update is brought to you by the Jeep Grand Cherokee,

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<v Speaker 1>the most awarded suv ever. The Grand Cherokee continues to

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<v Speaker 1>UK citizens are voting today in a referendum on the

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<v Speaker 1>country's membership in the European Union. UK law prevents us

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<v Speaker 1>from reporting on voting or discussion and analysis of referendum issues.

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<v Speaker 1>Wall polls are open, but we will be following all

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<v Speaker 1>the results as they come in. Special coverage begins at

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<v Speaker 1>five pm Wall Street time. Right here on Bloomberg Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>A deadlock Supreme Court vote has effectively killed President Obama's

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<v Speaker 1>plan to shield millions more immigrants who are in the

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<v Speaker 1>US illegally from being deported. The President called the decision heartbreaking.

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<v Speaker 1>It means that the expanded set of common sense deferred

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<v Speaker 1>action policies, the ones that I announced two years ago.

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<v Speaker 1>I can't go forward at this stage until there is

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<v Speaker 1>a ninth justice on the court to break the tie.

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<v Speaker 1>This afternoon, after more than twenty four hours, House Democrats

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<v Speaker 1>ended their sit in on the House floor. Georgia Democratic

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<v Speaker 1>Congressman John Lewis lend the charge for a vote on

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<v Speaker 1>gun control legislation. I must never a giveon. We must

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<v Speaker 1>keep the faith, and we must come back here on

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<v Speaker 1>July Mota tremor can ever before. How Speaker Paul Ryan

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<v Speaker 1>called the sit in a publicity stunt that risks setting

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<v Speaker 1>a dangerous precedent for American democracy. Gooble News twenty four

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<v Speaker 1>hours a day, powered by more than journalists and analysts

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<v Speaker 1>in more than one d twenty countries. From the Bloomberg

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<v Speaker 1>News Room. I'm Jill Schneider. This is Bloomberg, Charlie, and

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<v Speaker 1>we thank you, and again recapping equities hire today with

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<v Speaker 1>the SP five hundred index now at twenty one oh

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<v Speaker 1>six up by one. I'm Charlie Pellett and that's a

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<v Speaker 1>Bloomberg Business Flash. You're listening to taking stunt with Kathleen

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<v Speaker 1>and Pin Fox on Bloomberg Radio. Irridium. The Irridium satellite

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<v Speaker 1>system was designed to revolutionize communications around the world. It

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<v Speaker 1>also revolutionized the determ termination of many people to bring

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<v Speaker 1>this company into the reality of operation. John Bloom is

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<v Speaker 1>an author and investigative journalist and he is the author

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<v Speaker 1>of a new book entitled Eccentric Orbits The Iridium Story.

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<v Speaker 1>It looks at the development, launch, and bankruptcy of Motorola's

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<v Speaker 1>revolutionary satellite system. John Bloom, thank you very much for

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<v Speaker 1>being with us. Thank you for having me. How did

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<v Speaker 1>you first become interested in the Iridium story. Well, I

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<v Speaker 1>met a man named Dan Calusi who was retired in

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<v Speaker 1>Florida playing golf, and uh had had had been the

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<v Speaker 1>man who saved the system, but when he told me

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<v Speaker 1>about it, I've never heard of it. It was the

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<v Speaker 1>most expensive and complicated engineering project ever done. It was

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<v Speaker 1>more complicated than Los alamos Um. It was these autonomous

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<v Speaker 1>action satellites that functioned like cell towers in the I

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<v Speaker 1>and it was supposedly was going to make every inch

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<v Speaker 1>of the planet accessible by phone. So they built it.

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<v Speaker 1>It worked, It was acclaimed by engineers all over the world.

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<v Speaker 1>And so I met this guy years years later, and

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<v Speaker 1>I've never heard of it, And so that's how I

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<v Speaker 1>got interested in the in the story. Um, but you know,

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<v Speaker 1>they plowed through eleven billion dollars in nine months, and

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<v Speaker 1>so it became so the most extensive engineering project in

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<v Speaker 1>history became the biggest bankruptcy in the history. Um. It

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<v Speaker 1>was one year before Enron, so that record didn't last

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<v Speaker 1>very long. But uh, it was that. That's what that

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<v Speaker 1>was the original h impetus for the book. There was

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<v Speaker 1>something about technology then and technology now. I think that

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<v Speaker 1>when things go so quickly, you kind of lose track

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<v Speaker 1>of even you know, we're short spending time how different

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<v Speaker 1>things were and how far we've come. Well, the system

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<v Speaker 1>was built by Motorola Corporation, which, in when the system

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<v Speaker 1>was first conceived, Motorola controlled the whole world in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of cell phones. They had invented the first cell phone. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>they were the leaders, they controlled of the market. Uh,

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<v Speaker 1>and they thought this was the next step, because why

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<v Speaker 1>is the world building cell towers? One to five miles

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<v Speaker 1>apart throughout the entire planet, or trying to You can't

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<v Speaker 1>really do it when you could just put cell towers

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<v Speaker 1>in the sky. And so they thought this was the

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<v Speaker 1>obvious next generation of UM cell phones. And it worked.

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<v Speaker 1>But by the time it was finished UM they were

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<v Speaker 1>going to market it to this elusive creature called the

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<v Speaker 1>international business traveler. And the international business traveler needed to

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<v Speaker 1>be accessible all over the world. And so by the

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<v Speaker 1>time they finished it, UM the International Business Traveler had

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<v Speaker 1>a g s M roaming phone that was small, compact,

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<v Speaker 1>portable and really worked where all the people are in

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<v Speaker 1>the world. He didn't he didn't need a phone that that,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, UH went to Antarctica. So UM. So, even

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<v Speaker 1>though it was the revolutionary system, it was too expensive

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<v Speaker 1>and and they went to bankrupt pretty quick. But what

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<v Speaker 1>what frightened the government is that Motorola just decided to

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<v Speaker 1>abandon the project and crashed the satellites into the ocean. UM.

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<v Speaker 1>That's why people remember it. Those those who remember it

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<v Speaker 1>at all remember it as the biggest flame out in history.

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<v Speaker 1>And you know, the Motorola's biggest mistake of the of

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<v Speaker 1>the nineties. But because of the intervention of this one

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<v Speaker 1>guy in Florida and Dan Calusi, who was retired but

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<v Speaker 1>at one time he had run PanAm Airlines and UNC Corporation,

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<v Speaker 1>and he just said, this is this is a crime.

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<v Speaker 1>We can't let these things be destroyed. And so he

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<v Speaker 1>um got involved with the Pentagon, the White House, the

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<v Speaker 1>Secretary of Defense put together an investment group. What was

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<v Speaker 1>strange is that any fortune company could have saved the

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<v Speaker 1>system with just a few pennies, but they all passed

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<v Speaker 1>on it. And so he put together this Motley investment

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<v Speaker 1>group that included Saudi Arabians and the friends of Jesse

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<v Speaker 1>Jackson venture capital firm in uh in Washington, d C.

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<v Speaker 1>And they, through enormous efforts and a little luck, they

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<v Speaker 1>saved the system. Is still flies today and it's still

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<v Speaker 1>the only one of its kind and likely to be

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<v Speaker 1>the only one of its kind into the foreseeable future.

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<v Speaker 1>Um In in fact, it's going to be used for

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<v Speaker 1>the next generation of air traffic control, so we don't

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<v Speaker 1>have any airliners go off the grid anymore and lose

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<v Speaker 1>them in the ocean. Um So, uh So there's two stories.

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<v Speaker 1>How Motorola lost the company and how this little group

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<v Speaker 1>Motley crewe Um saved the company and then this phone

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<v Speaker 1>became essential in Iraq and Afghanistan for our for our troops. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>we thank you so very much for joining us today.

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<v Speaker 1>A fascinating story written by investigative journalist John bloom and

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<v Speaker 1>it's brand new Eccentric Orbits, the development launching bankruptcy, and

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<v Speaker 1>Motorola's revolutionary satellite system a Ridium. We thank you for

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<v Speaker 1>joining us today. I'm Kafeine Hayes along with Pim Fox.

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<v Speaker 1>This is taking Stock on Bloomberg Radio. Coming up on

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<v Speaker 1>taking Stock, We're going to take stock of a new exchange.

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<v Speaker 1>The ie X Group has got a new exchange and

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<v Speaker 1>we're going to tell you all about this full fledged

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<v Speaker 1>stock exchange