Globalstar L.P. [GSTRF] said roaming service is now available to its subscribers between almost 30 countries in North and South America and Europe, where Globalstar gateways are in full operation. Argentina, Bermuda and Brazil are included, along with Morocco and most of Europe, except Scandinavia, the Baltic nations and some Eastern European countries.

By the end of June, the company said, it expects to extend roaming to and from the rest of Europe, Russia, additional Latin American countries and Australia. By the end of the year, 27 gateways will be in service, covering more than 100 countries, and roaming capability will be added to each gateway shortly after local service begins, Globalstar said.

In other Globalstar news, the U.S. subsidiary of Stratos Global Corp. [SGB] has launched its new Globalstar service for customers in the United States. Stratos is a Canadian company that specializes in providing remote-access telecom services, after buying the maritime satellite business of the former American Mobile Satellite Corp., the Inmarsat business of Teleglobe Inc. and the former IDB Mobile Communications.

Stratos was a reseller of Iridium services, but with that business having collapsed, “We feel now is the best time to convert Iridium customers to Globalstar and capture new customers that may have been waiting due to the uncertainty surrounding Iridium,” said “D” D’Ambrosio, executive vice president for sales and marketing at the U.S. subsidiary, in Bethesda, Md.