Iridium Communications Inc., a company that coins itself as being "the only mobile satellite service company offering coverage over the entire globe," recently reported a 7.9  percent increase in its total revenue for the first quarter ended March 31 with $81.7 million compared to the $75.8 million during the first quarter of 2009.

Company officials said that the company's commercial service revenue increased 11.0 percent to $40.9 million in the first quarter compared to $36.8 million during the first quarter of 2009.

Government voice and machine-to-machine "M2M" data service revenue increased 3.1 percent to $13.8 million in the first quarter compared to $13.3 million in the first quarter of 2009.

Company officials also said that subscriber equipment revenue for the first quarter increased 6.5 percent to $21.8 million compared to $20.5 million in the first quarter of 2009.

The company also recorded an increase in number of subscribers as it reached approximately 390,000 - up from approximately 328,000 in the comparable quarter last year.

'We're off to an excellent start in 2010,' said Matt Desch (News - Alert), CEO.

Desch also said that the company experienced strong subscriber additions and growth in most of its revenue categories in the first quarter and that the growth reflects strengthening in the global economy and continued healthy demand for the company's diversified portfolio of products and services.

"We experienced double digit percentage growth in subscribers and revenue for our commercial services. We're seeing growth in the government sector through our voice and Netted Iridium (News - Alert) services. And, our handsets continue to set the standard for quality, reliability and global reach, evidenced by worldwide demand for the Iridium 9555 satellite phone," Desch said.