Philip, thanks for the links and advice, quick question, I had read if you rent the sat phone more than 3 times that it was cheaper to buy one. Does this hold any validity, plus I remember back (I think 2000) when Motorola was going to pull the plug on the iridium systems and the phones were going to be a boat anchor but later they worked through the tough times. It's a shame that neither Motto or Globalstar can't get their act together, but that's what happens in a niche market with not as many players. I guess it will take Google to pull it off, the walmart of the internet.