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Berlin opposes Paris over Galileo
May 24, 2005
"Berlin, Germany, May. 24 (UPI) -- Germany is threatening to openly oppose France's bid to control Europe's $3.6 billion Galileo satellite venture." WashingtonTimes.com
Over in Europe, France and Germany are squabbling over who controls the European rival to the US GPS network. Galileo was supposed to propel Europe into the Space Age and by 2008 30 satellites will/would have been in orbit.
But Germany isn't happy about the French controlling the system. Given their financial input into the project I'm not surprised. However, one phrase makes me wonder.
"We must make sure that enough of Galileo's industrial spill-over comes back to Germany."
How much money do these countries think is in this system? Given that the US system is freely available, where is this cash windfall going to come from? Here is a quote from the Telegraph:
"America already offers the GPS system free to civilian users worldwide, making it unclear where the jumbo profits will come from. Brussels insists that Galileo is more accurate, vastly increasing the range of commercial uses."
Some bold claims there. Problem again is how do these countries expect to make money out of it? You can be sure that there will be stiff competition facing any new European player in the GPS market from the existing players and that there will also probably be competition from the Far East.
Galileo will no doubt be a good thing for GPS, but if European countries are hoping to make money out of it I would suggest that they don't hold their breath on that. The article went on to say:
"The European Commission claims that Galileo will generate £7billion in annual business from 2008, creating up to 150,000 jobs. Britain has long been sceptical, suspecting that it is an uncosted exercise in empire-building - or "the Common Agricultural Policy in the sky" according to one official. "
Perhaps that quote gets to the heart of the problem ...
Posted by Kathie on May 24, 2005 9:06 PM.
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