What's New at SWANsat

Check this page often to learn what's new at SWANsat™. This page will provide, in summary form, a list of some of our latest milestone accomplishments regarding SWANsat™ going back as far as mid-2003.

Summary of Major Milestones Completed to Date:

   COMPLETED: (1996-1997) Frequency Availability Studies

   COMPLETED: (1997-1998) Technology Feasibility Modeling

   COMPLETED: (1999-2000) Orbital Slot Optimization Study

   COMPLETED: (2000-2003) Licensing through ITU Member Nation

   COMPLETED: (2004) ITU First Commercial Use Claim Filing

   COMPLETED: (2004-2005) Income Analysis for ODA Participation

   COMPLETED: (2005-2006) Crafting Shareware Telecommunications Model

   COMPLETED: (2006-2007) Draft Landing Rights MOU Crafted and Distributed

   COMPLETED: (2007- to 2008) W-band Filing at ITU and Spreading the Word...

   COMPLETED: (2009 - 2010) Working toward African Union endorsement of SWANsat

   COMPLETED: (2011 - present) Negotiating funding deal with emerging African nations

And here's what's been happening lately:

Looking Ahead to 2012

We're making plans to visit Southern Sudan, Angola, and member nations of the East African Community  during late first quarter or early second quarter.

Milestones Accomplished in 2010

We posted a Demarche and Manifesto regarding Internet access rights, delivering electronic copies to every major world leader.

Milestones Accomplished in 2009

On 11 August we presented our drafts Notes Verbale to the African Union that are to lead to a meeting with the African Union Secretariat regarding a public endorsement of the SWANsat System.

On 11 August we presented our Technology Readiness Assessment Analysis to the African Union's Ministry for Infrastructure and Energy for due diligence analysis that should lead to a public endorsement by the African Union of the SWANsat System.

On 17 July 2009 the SWANsat System and Global Settlement Foundation (GSF) entered into a Memorandum of Understanding and Joint Interest Agreement which delegates the management of the AUric to the GSF.

In late June we completed our final design for the 400 AURIC gold coin that we're proposing for the gold standard that will play a role in our proposed Marshall Plan for the African Union. It looks like this:

In late April we met with officials of the African Union at their Permanent Mission to the United States of America in Washington, DC, to plan our next steps that will lead to a public endorsement by the African Union of the SWANsat System.

Milestones Accomplished in 2008

In mid-October 2008, accompanied by representatives of the NEPAD Council, we visited the African Union's embassy in Washington, DC to discuss how SWANsat could revolutionize the economy of the African continent. We addressed His Excellency Erastus Mwencha, the African Union's Deputy Chairperson, as well as Prof. Ibrahim, Head of Infrastructure and Energy for the African Union.

In late August, 2008 we were invited by the Export-Import Bank of the United States to apply for funding guarantee for the USD$36 billion we'll need to build and launch SWANsat. This bank began analyzing our project in November 2008.

On 1 April 2008, the ITU published SWANsat's formal filings for its first 3 spacecraft that will comprise our initial global network. Click here to download a PDF copy of the internet filings.

From 13-15 February 2008 we attended the NEPAD Council's ICT Africa 2008 conference, sponsored by the NEPAD Council, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the capital of the African Union. We talked about how SWANsat can serve as an effective economic model for bridging the digital divide and as a modern Marshall Plan for the African Union.

Milestones Accomplished in 2007

On 24 December our award winning graphic artist friend Larry Vilott completed preliminary design work on the obverse side of the 500 AURIC gold coin that we're proposing become the gold and silver standard of the African Union. The design will be introduced formally at the NEPAD Council's ICT Africa 2008 conference to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 13-15 February 2008. Under SWANsat's version of a proposed Marshall Plan for the African Union, participation funds equivalent to as much as €1 billion per month will be paid to the African Union, denominated in gold, which will be purchased from African nations and converted into AURIC coinage for use by its member states.

In late November we signed an agreement with the NEPAD Council in Washington, DC, under the terms of which the Council will represent us in a liaison relationship with the African Union by which we'll present SWANsat as an effective economic model for bridging the digital divide and as a Marshall Plan for the African Union.

From 29-30 October 2007 we attended the Connect Africa Summit in Kigali, Rwanda, where we discussed how SWANsat can serve as an effective economic model for bridging the digital divide within the context of SWANsat serving as a Marshall Plan for the African Union. We met with the Secretary-General of the International Telecommunication Union and with Rwanda's President Paul Kagame on 29 October and talked about SWANsat with many of the national leaders of the African Union who attended the Summit.

On 17 October the NEPAD Council agreed to enter into a Joint Interest Agreement and Memorandum of Understanding with us under the terms of which the Council will serve as a liaison representing us before the African Union as together we work toward a landing rights agreement regarding SWANsat. An option for the African Union to participate as a funding partner with SWANsat will also be explored.

On 27 September we received an endorsement for SWANsat from the NEPAD Council. SWANsat would be a "worthwhile initiative for Africa, provided the promised €1 per 2 Meg/second of symmetric bandwidth for third world countries will indeed be achievable. We will be willing to endorse the project based on that assumption."

On 8 September we attended a reception at the South African embassy in Washington, DC to benefit the NEPAD Council, a nonprofit organization founded by African experts and professionals to advocate for ICT issues world wide. There we met with NEPAD Council President Dr. Appolinaire Djikeng and Senior Vice-president Dr. Jabulani Dhliwayo about how SWANsat can serve as an effective economic model for bridging the digital divide within the context of SWANsat serving as a Marshall Plan for the African Union. We sent a set of electronic briefing documents to them.

On 6 September we conferred with the embassy of the African Union to the United States of America in Washington, DC, regarding SWANsat as an effective economic model for bridging the digital divide within the context of SWANsat serving as a Marshall Plan for the African Union. We were asked to prepare a private briefing for the presentation before the ambassador in a personal meeting. A set of electronic briefing documents was sent to her office.

On 19 July we presented a private executive briefing to The Economic and Commercial Bureau of the Embassy of the Arab Republic of Egypt to the United States of America regarding SWANsat as an effective economic model for bridging the digital divide within the context of SWANsat serving as a Marshall Plan for the African Union.

On 19 July we presented a private executive briefing to various executives affiliated with the World Bank and its related organization, the International Finance Corporation regarding SWANsat as an effective economic model for bridging the digital divide within the context of SWANsat serving as a Marshall Plan for the African Union.

On 9 July we presented a private executive briefing to the Embassy of the Republic of Korea to the United States of America in Washington, DC, regarding SWANsat as an effective economic model for bridging the digital divide within the context of SWANsat serving as a Marshall Plan for the African Union.

On 2 July we presented a private executive briefing to executives of Aerospace Corporation regarding SWANsat.

On 1 June we presented a private executive briefing to Mr. Sarbuland Kahn, Executive Coordinator for the United Nations' Global Alliance for ICT and Development regarding SWANsat as an effective economic model for bridging the digital divide.

SIGNAL Magazine devoted its May 2007 cover story to a description of the SWANsat project.

Click here to download the entire May 2007 issue of Signal Magazine in PDF format from the Signal web site.

Click here to open a new window in your browser on the SIGNAL site and read the article in HTML format.

Click here to download  the entire May 2007 issue of Signal Magazine in PDF format from our web site. File size is 10,587,158 bytes.

Milestones Accomplished in 2006

On 27 April we also opened discussions with the Organization of American States concerning a proposed Memorandum of Understanding regarding SWANsat.

On 27 April we also opened discussions with the Pacific Islands Forum concerning a proposed Memorandum of Understanding regarding SWANsat.

On 27 April we opened discussions with the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) concerning a Memorandum of Understanding regarding SWANsat.

From 18-20 April the African Union held its First Ministerial Conference on Information and Communications Technologies in Cairo, Egypt. Our proposed Memorandum of Understanding was placed on the agenda for discussion.

On 13 April we contacted the African Union regarding a Memorandum of Understanding, under the terms of which the fifty-three member nations of the AU will grant landing rights for the SWANsat System in exchange for our provision of educational and telemedical video capacity to the educational and medical information ministries of the member states.

From 23-29 March we attended the Computer Association of Nepal's InfoTech 2006 Forum in Kathmandu, Nepal. We discussed the SWANsat Shareware Telecommunications Model at a keynote dinner attended by about 100 of Nepal's key ICT stakeholders and addressed a plenary session on the subject of how SWANsat can meet United Nations Millennium Development Goals and ECOSOC 2000 mandates. We also met with several members of Nepal's government regarding landing rights for SWANsat and gave a number of press interviews.

From 1-3 March we attended the International Forum for ICT Strategies and Investment in Marrakech, Morocco, where we met with officials from the Islamic Development Bank and from Ericsson. We also discussed the SWANsat Shareware Telecommunications Model.

Milestones Accomplished in 2005

From 21-24 November we attended the ITU/BDT Regional Seminar on Fixed Mobile Convergence and New Network Architectures for the Arab Region in Tunis and presented a discussion on how SWANsat can meet Sustainable Development and Open Access Goals of the UNICT Task Force via the SWANsat Shareware Telecommunications Model.

We attended the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) conference from November 16-18 in Tunis, Tunisia and spoke with representatives of the Ministries of Communication for more than 30 nations.

On 6 November we surrendered the licenses that had been issued by Tuvalu, citing Tuvalu's unwillingness to authorize SWANsat to make filings before the ITU. Without authorization to make filings, SWANsat can no longer pursue its licensure with Tuvalu. SWANsat continues working on behalf of the Republic of Nauru.

On 1 November the SWANsat Project was listed in the ITU's prestigious Golden Book, which promotes new commitments and initiatives, as recorded in the World Summit on the Information Society stocktaking database (see: WSIS-II/PC-3/DOC3). The Golden Book was launched in October 2005.

In mid-October we delivered a letter to the Her Excellency Gloria Arroyo, President of the Republic of the Philippines, in which we proposed that the Philippine government enter into a strategic partnership with SWANsat™ that could bring post-launch revenues of up to USD$6 billion per year to that country's government.

17 September 2005 saw a significant milestone reached in the cellular world as the total number of connections worldwide passed 2 billion. The growth rate is impressive—after clocking up 1 billion in 2002, 20 years after cellular was first launched, the 2nd billion came up in just 3 years.

On 17 September we presented a briefing on SWANsat to His Excellency Ludwig Scotty, President of Nauru, as a side event to the United Nations summit held in New York City

From 12-15 September we attended the ITU's Mobile Telecommunications Conference in Kiev, Ukraine, where we presented a discussion on how SWANsat can meet the Open Access Goals of the United Nations Information and Communications Technologies Task Force.

In early June 2005 we began a feasibility study regarding formation of mySWANbank, a proposed banking service for SWANsat™ users. Our mySWANbank service will be operated in conjunction with SWANsat's affiliated Banque de Commerce Internationale.

On 13 May 2005 SWANsat™ founder William Welty received his Ph.D. in Communications from Louisiana Baptist University. The subject of his dissertation was a study On Utilization of the W-Band High Frequency Electromagnetic Spectrum for Creation of and Deployment of an Alternative Global Telecommunications Infrastructure; i.e., SWANsat™.

From 7-17 April 2005 SWANsat™ founder William Welty visited the Philippines to discuss how their Overseas Foreign Workers program can benefit from MySWANmail™ encrypted email as well as financial, medical, and educational services to remote islands. We were invited to present a formal proposal to the government regarding SWANsat™.

Milestones Accomplished in 2004

From 18-19 November 2004 SWANsat™ founder William Welty attended the Seventh Meeting of the UNICT Task Force in Berlin, Germany, where he discussed the potential for SWANsat to meet many of the goals and objectives of the Task Force with respect to sustainable development and open access for broadband communications.

On 16 August 2004 our host country authorized our appointment to membership in the ITU's Telecommunication Information Exchange Service (TIES). Our having been granted access to the ITU's information database will assist us in finishing our SWANsat™ filing before the ITU.

On 6 May 2004 the United Nations Information and Communications Technologies Task Force, with which our founder William Welty is affiliated as a member of several of its working groups, posted a link to the informal supplemental statement that we sent to the ITU on 1 May 2004.

On 1 May 2004 we filed an informal supplemental statement before the ITU concerning our 26 April filing of our claim of first commercial use of the W-band. This document describes what SWANsat™ is, why it's needed, what it will do for the world, and how it will help bridge the digital divide by providing inexpensive broadband services to underserved communities worldwide.

On 27 April 2004 we received an acknowledgement and receipt of the SWANsat™ filing from the ITU regarding our 26 April 2004 filing. With this receipt, our claim of our first commercial use of the W-band is secured.

On 26 April 2004 we filed an Advanced Publication Information (API) filing at the International Telecommunication Union in electronic format concerning the SWANsat™ System. Our filing claimed first commercial use of the W-band for delivery of broadband services via geosynchronous telecommunications satellites.

On 24 March 2004 the United States Patent and Trademark Office mailed a confirmation statement and receipt for our 8 December 2003 patent filing concerning the SWANsat business model. With this receipt, our proprietary intellectual property for the SWANsat model is now protected by patent laws.

On 8 March 2004 we received a grant of an Application for Assignments from the Republic of Nauru. But this time, our host country also sent a letter to the ITU authorizing us to make an Advanced Publication Information (API) filing before that body.

Milestones Accomplished in 2003

On 8 December 2003 Leading Edge Technologies filed with the United States Patent and Trademark Office for patent protection regarding its proprietary SWANsat™ business model.

On 27 May 2003 we received grant of an Application for Assignments to operate SWANsat™ that we had filed with the government of Tuvalu. The grant was released in mid-July, but Tuvalu never issued a letter to the ITU authorizing us to file a registration claim for first use of the W-band. As a result, we had no standing to file on behalf of Tuvalu any claim of first commercial use of the W-band.

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