BIG-CITY BEEPERS UP AGAIN; RURAL AREAS ON CALL WAITING.Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer Most beepers in major cities should be operating again after the malfunction mal·func·tion v. 1. To fail to function. 2. To function improperly. n. 1. Failure to function. 2. Faulty or abnormal functioning. last week of a communications satellite communications satellite artificial satellite that functions as part of a global radio-communications network. Echo 1, the first communications satellite, launched in 1960, was an instrumented inflatable sphere that passively reflected radio signals back to , pager industry officials said. Service to remote areas of the country, however, still is out and could take up to a week to restore as technicians work to reach satellite dishes in out of the way spots, Brenda Maxfield, spokeswoman for the Personal Communications Industry communications industry, broadly defined, the business of conveying information. Although communication by means of symbols and gestures dates to the beginning of human history, the term generally refers to mass communications. Association, said Wednesday. ``We're up and running except in rural areas,'' Maxfield said. ``All those who were affected are at virtually 100 percent operation.'' By late last week, customers in major U.S. cities, including Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , were able to use their beepers again. ``It looks like everybody is up,'' said Scott Baradell, spokesman for PageNet, which lost service to its 10.2 million customers for much of last week. Problems began May 19 when PanAmSat's Galaxy IV Galaxy IV was a model HS-601 satellite built by Hughes Space and Communications Company (HSC). The satellite, which carried a payload of both C band and Ku band transponders, was launched on June 24, 1993 and operated by PanAmSat Corporation. communication satellite veered off course, leaving about 90 percent of America's 45 million pager users without the use of their beepers. The Greenwich, Conn.-based company immediately began shifting signals to its backup satellites. Most pager companies focused on restoring service to medical facilities and other primary users who depend on beepers, Maxfield said. Now that most service has been restored, Maxfield said the paging and satellite industries are concentrating on increasing the number of satellites available to personal communications services See PCS. and are devising speedier backup strategies should such a malfunction occur again. ``The paging industry is very hopeful that the satellite industry is going to look at having other options available,'' Maxfield said. ``We're limited in terms of the number of satellites available.'' Maxfield said PanAmSat's Galaxy IV communications satellite was one of the first all-digital satellites that provided advanced capabilities to the paging industry, giving good geographic coverage of the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area. and the Caribbean. ``As we see more satellites going up, we'll be more able to spread out those usages so you don't see so many (paging companies) on one satellite,'' Maxfield said. ``The paging industry and satellite industry will work together to make sure we minimize any risk of this happening again.'' |
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