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More Facts of Satellite Phone :
A satellite telephone, satellite phone, or satphone is a mobile phone that communicates directly with orbiting communications satellites. Depending on the architecture of a particular system, coverage may include the entire Earth, or only specific regions.
A telephone that transmits and receives from satellites that provide coverage around the world. Iridium was the first satellite phone company.
A satellite phone or satphone is a mobile phone that sends and receives calls using satellites rather than landlines or cellular broadcasting towers. A satellite phone only requires a clear line of sight to the sky. The advantage of a satellite phone is that it can complete calls from anywhere. A satellite phone can operate in the middle of the Sahara desert, at the top of Mount Everest, or from a clearing deep within a South African jungle. It is an indispensable tool for remote excursions of all kinds, and provides solid communication on the seas and in the air.
satellite phone is a telephone-like device that sends radio signals direct to a satellite then down to a land earth station from where the call can be directed to the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN) as well as a cellular network. The reverse is also true. Any land-line or cellular network can call satellite phones. The Gateway processes and takes care of the switching of the calls rather than the satellite network. This allows telephone usage even when a person is literally in the "middle of no where" and too far away from a cell tower for a cellular phone. When a user calls another compatible satellite phone, the call is transmitted up to the satellites and then down to the ground station then transmitted back up to the satellites then down to the receiving satellite phone. This is the ultimate secure calling because the encryption is handled at the ground station because the call never goes to a land-line or PSTN.
Some satellite networks have partnered with cellular GSM networks to provide Internet service and email through satellite phones in addition to offering GSM roaming. This allows a satellite phone customer that lives or works at the fringes of a GSM zone to utilize GSM networks when possible, and satellite calls when necessary. Such built-in flexibility is ideal for military, disaster or relief contractors, rural ranchers, local boaters, or anyone who requires or desires guaranteed regional or global coverage
Features of the Satellite Phone
Satellite phones are usually issued with numbers in a special country calling code. For example, Inmarsat satellite phones are issued with codes +870 through +874, while Iridium satellite phones are issued with codes +881 6 and +881 7. Some satellite phones are issued with ordinary phone numbers, such as Globalstar satellite phones issued with U.S. telephone numbers
The three main satellite networks at present are Iridium, Globalstar and Thuraya. Iridium uses low orbiting satellites that minimize conversational delays, but more importantly, it is the only current satellite network that provides coverage over the entire earth, including the oceans. Competitor Globalstar covers about 80% of the earth's landmasses, excluding northern and southern polar regions, while Thuraya covers parts of India, Asia, Africa, the entire Middle East and Europe.
Some satellite phones use satellites in geostationary orbit. These systems can maintain near-continuous global coverage with only three or four satellites, reducing the launch costs. |
