Once the satellite receives the signal, it is beamed back to earth to a satellite receiver located at each transmitter site. The signal is then simulcast to every transmitter within the subscriber's specified coverage area, whether it's local, regional, statewide or nationwide. From a technical perspective, the simplicity of this type of transmission system is advantageous because there is no degradation of the signal and each transmitter operates independently. That means if one site fails, it does not adversely affect others within the system. Thus, subscribers will still receive their messages.
Wireless messaging is one of the fastest-growing segments of the telecommunications industry.
One out of every seven people will carry a wireless device by the year 2000. This prediction is supported by the fact that today one in 10 paging subscribers are under age 18. By the year 2000, the number of subscribers is expected to grow to nearly 70 million. Demand for word messaging is growing at twice the rate of numeric paging. A similar trend is occurring in demand for increased coverage.