The GCC states plan to work more closely on developing joint-venture communication projects using the satellite services offered by the International Mobile Satellite Organisation (Inmarsat). GCC representatives signed a memorandum of understanding on future collaboration on 26 November with Inmarsat's director-general Olof Lundberg in Riyadh.

According to the agreement, the GCC will co-operate in setting up the new Inmarsat affiliate being established in the US, at a cost of $2,600 million, which will launch the global mobile satellite handheld telephone called Inmarsat-P in 1999.

The GCC will also work on an agreement to allow Inmarsat terminals to be used across borders, without the need to apply for a fresh licence in each country.