Several years ago, Bill Gates and partners Craig McCaw and venture capitalist Ed Tuck envisioned a huge constellation of 840 satellites in LEO to provide high-speed Internet access from any point on Earth.

Later, the constellation was reduced to 288 active satellites (plus 12 spares), each of them weighing 1500 KG.

Now, it seems Teledesic will consist of 30 satellites in MEO designed to serve the most profitable regions of the Earth.

It reminds me of the old gag line on "Get Smart", where agent Maxwell Smart would make some outrageous statement, then when countered, would come back with "Would you believe...."