Motorola - Iridium
1998-1999
Backed by Motorola, Iridium Communications created an enormous satellite infrastructure for a new global telephone network, launching a total of 66 satellites at a cost of almost $10 billion in today's money. Development took so long that much of the technology was already outdated by the time the phone was launched.
The phones were heavy, impractical, prone to glitches, and very expensive. To make matters worse, they couldn't be used inside buildings, cars, or in big cities. After only a year, Iridium Communications became one of the largest bankruptcies in US history.
Additional info:
Airspacemag - The Rise and Fall and Rise of Iridium
NewScientist - story of a communications solution no one listened to
The Wall Street Journal -The Fall and Rise of Iridium
This is a demo of how the phone worked: