As a commercial venture, the original Iridium system failed. That led to bankruptcy and the merger cited in the article. If you notice a good bit of the business in the re-born Iridium is government-subsidized (ie. defense & research).
i have my zune for four years now, i love it, it works great and sounds wonderful.....ive got 400 plus tunes on it, including some books, seminars, etc...nvr had a lick of trouble with it.