[SatNews] The Company has completed delivery of crucial equipment...

LightSquared™ has delivered satellite devices for tribal nations in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Arizona. These satellite phones represent the Company’s commitment to assist the Indian Health Service (IHS), Tribes and Tribal Organizations in reaching American Indian and Alaska Native communities located beyond the reach of landline and cell phone networks. LightSquared agreed to donate to IHS as many as 2,000 satellite phones as well as the service to support them. The donation is a reflection of LightSquared’s broader mission to bring 21st century communications to rural regions including Tribal areas that in some cases still lack basic telecommunications service.

“These satellite phones will play a critical role for health care workers who often find themselves in locations beyond the reach of traditional communications services.  For Public Health Nurses (PHNs) and Community Health Representatives (CHRs), the ability to communicate to doctors and other health professionals while visiting patients in the remotest parts of Indian Country has a critical impact on delivery of health care,” said IHS CIO Charles Gepford. IHS is the lead federal health care agency for American Indian and Alaska Native populations. The first wave of LightSquared-provided satellite phones has already been delivered to IHS. These phones will be distributed to Tribally-operated health care facilities including the Coquille Indian Tribe Community Health Center in Coos Bay, Oregon; the Nisqually Tribal Health Clinic in Nisqually, Washington; the Benewah Medical Center in Plummer, Idaho; and facilities in the Tohono O’odham Nation in Sells, Arizona. Federal and Tribal CHRs, PHNs and ambulances who work from these and other medical centers will be able to use the satellite phones as they travel in remote locations to provide medical care.