A satellite phone is necessary gear for those that work or play in the world’s remotest places. Some satellite phones or terminals perform well in mountainous terrain while others are more economical or have faster internet capability suitable for applications like web browsing or video. This Buyer’s Guide discusses some of the considerations that go into choosing the right phone for your application. Our knowledgeable staff are standing by and ready to help.

Choosing a Satphone

Should I buy or rent the Satphone? We offer satellite phone rentals for short-term needs. We also offer free 2-day delivery though surcharges apply for Overnight or Saturday Delivery or AK & HI addresses. The rental packages include everything you would normally need and have flexible airtime bundles and various accessories options. If you want to purchase a phone, click here for detailed pricing and airtime plan information.

What if I already have a satellite phone but need a SIM card? We will send you Iridium or Inmarsat SIM cards free-of charge for later activation at your convenience. For more information on this or Airtime Rate Plan information, click here.

Is there coverage in my area? Iridium has global coverage including the polar caps that works even in the most mountainous areas. The Inmarsat IsatPhone 2 can be a very effective solution for users between 50°N and 50°S latitude that are not operating in mountainous terrain. Thuraya offers a very small handset but its regional coverage is limited to parts of Europe, the Middle East, India, Asia, Australia and Africa.

What if I need to use the satellite phone inside a building or vehicle? Special equipment with external antennas is available for in-building, in-vehicle, general aviation, and maritime applications.

I have heard that internet over satellite is slow. Will it be fast enough? Apps are available for your smartphone or computer that provide email and web access with data compression. Iridium or Inmarsat GSPS phones offer very slow 2.4 kbps internet data but light email usage (attachments under 100KB) are well supported. Much faster satellite internet terminals are available for users or groups of users needing web browsing, video, or other broadband applications. In the video below, Professional Hunter Spook Spann talks about using the Iridium GO! for voice, text and light email usage in remote areas of northern Alaska.

Comparison of Iridium 9575 Extreme to Inmarsat IsatPhone 2

Enterprise Communications for Groups of Workers

Iridium Push-to-Talk Communications: Organizations with groups of people working in remote locations have unique communications requirements. Iridium Push-to-Talk is affordable for small or large organizations. Workers can communicate instantly with other from their group or the home office -- and do so with enhanced location awareness. Unlike terrestrial-based Land Mobile Radio talk groups, Iridium PTT talk groups cover vast areas. Talk group membership and boundaries can be managed on-the-fly through a secure website. Interoperability with most Land Mobile Radio systems is straightforward with iMatrix.

Iridium Location Tracking: Global vehicle tracking of land vehicles is increasingly necessary and has become economical even for small organizations. The SmallTrack Global Tracking Device uses Iridium SBD to communicate to transmit speed, location, and other information to the Proximity web portal platform. Two buttons on the SmallTrack are available to be configured for custom applications such as automated worker security check-ins and emergency alert notifications. The SmallTrack can inform management when a vehicle enters or exits a virtual geofenced area. It can also detect speeding violations and notify management. The Proximity web portal shows the most current GPS position of your vehicle fleet and its historical location information. An API allows Proximity to be integrated easily into your existing software.

Monitoring and Control of Remote Assets: Remote assets such as oil pipelines or fuel tanks located in rural or wilderness areas must be monitored. Sometimes commands need to be sent to the remote asset. Iridium SBD (Short Burst Data) is designed for these applications. Solar powered Iridium-based asset monitoring systems are available for locations without conventional external power. A secure web portal can manage the information that is gathered and send commands to the remote asset. We also can develop a custom application with API access to your existing database. Just let us know what you need.

Comparison of Iridium Extreme PTT to ICOM IC-SAT100 push-to-talk satellite phone

Mobile Satellite Internet

Iridium Broadband: Iridium Certus offers internet connections up to 704 kbps down and 352 kbps up (depending on the terminal selected) and 3 high-quality voice lines. The MissionLINK Certus Terminal by Thales is designed for land-vehicle applications, but a portable cased version of the MissionLINK is also available when high speed internet is needed in an area that can only be reached on foot.

Inmarsat BGAN Land Portable Terminals: Inmarsat BGAN uses land-portable terminals about the size of a laptop computer. Streaming IP data mode is billed by the minute of connection time and offers assured performance suitable for HDR video. For most users, a Standard IP data internet connection is more economical. Standard IP data is billed by the megabyte and offers speeds up to 492 kbps on a Class 1 BGAN terminal. Typical Standard IP data speeds are 150-250 kbps. Tiered plans are available with the top tier allowing unlimited use of Standard IP data within the limited of a Fair Use Policy. We rent Inmarsat BGAN for short term applications.

Inmarsat GX and Maverick VSAT Terminals: Groups of people needing simultaneous internet access typically choose a VSAT terminal. We offer shared and dedicated bandwidth plans with data speeds up to 4 Mbps. All of our plans offer unlimited usage without any throttle down within the Fair Use Policy. Whether you simply need to check your email or stream broadcast video, we have a satellite internet connection for your application. We rent the Hornet 65 Inmarsat GX Fly-Away Kit. Call us for more information.