Hi,

I spend a great amount of time outside of cell phone coverage and for the past 8 years have relied on a satellite telephone. My first phone was an M-Sat, it was mounted in my vehicle and was very much like talking on a two way radio with a considerable voice delay (almost impossible to tell a joke on, it's all in the timing). My second phone was a portable Iridium but I found the voice quality to be better on the Globalstar so I recieved one of them about 4 years ago. All was great until about 16 months ago when it became increasingly difficult to lock-on to a satellite signal.

That is about when I read Doug Ritter's note on his Blog (it is still posted there) about how Globalstar is having considerable satellite troubles and Iridium is the new leader in the satellite telephone world.

The linked article attached to Doug's posting said that Globalstar was trying to correct the problem temporarily by mid-2007. Well it is now August and I am still having problems, I had to make an important call yesterday but I think my Globalstar phone is still "Searching for Satellite Connection", very frustrating!

I ended up having to leave my job site and ride my ATV 10 kilometers (6 miles) further into the bush to a particular rock outcrop where I can always get a weak Analog cell phone signal.

My question for ETS members is: for those of you who use hand-held satellite telephones, what type do you use and how has the reception/service been recently?

Maybe I need to change phones again?

Thanks,

Mike

Hey Mike, sorry to not have an answer but what are the phone costs now-days and per-minute usage fee? Anyone offering any "plans" ?

Mike -

No recent experience, but here's a two-part article on The Travel Insider website, updated June 2007, about sat-phone service. Besides mentioning Globalstar's satellite problems, as discussed in the Barron's article, they commented: "Testing showed that while Iridium service offered a 95% - 98% success rate on making 3 minute calls, Globalstar service failed two calls out of every three." Not great odds! Part two of the article compares Globalstar and Iridium in a bit more detail.

Dan

Hi Fellows,

Todd, concerning what my satellite phone cost and the price to operate it; I do not know! It is provided by my employer for remote communication at jobsites. I will do some research on the subject.

Dan, Thank You for the link to an excellent article on satellite phone communication, including a comparison of the different providers. I am going to direct my employer to this article and perhaps in the future I will recieve a satellite phone that actually works when I need it.

Mike

See here for links to several rental companies that will also sell you a satphone and access:

http://del.icio.us/philip/satphone

Rates for time without a plan are about a dollar a minute, call or receive.