Satellite Phone FAQ 2024 Edition

 Satellite Phone FAQ 2024

Are satellite phones legal in the US?

Yes, satellite phones are legal in the United States for now and in most countries. Satphones are hot right now! But in a few parts of the world, the government might confiscate your satellite phone or even deport you for having the device.

In a few countries like India and Nicaragua, satellite phones are illegal to possess, and other countries like Russia and China require advance registration and licensing of your satellite phone with the local regime. Make sure you are aware of local laws before bringing your sat phone on your great adventure to a foreign land in 2024

Can I turn my cell phone into a satellite phone?

If you want to give your cell phone the capabilities of a satellite mobile phone, there is a device called Iridium GO! that makes this happen. Iridium GO! works like a WiFi hotspot for satellite phone service; you can use your existing smartphone to get truly global satellite connectivity.

Apple has also recently announced that the new iPhone 14 will include satellite connectivity for short-text emergency communications, which Apple calls “Emergency SOS via Satellite” service.3 Apple is partnering with Globalstar to offer this service, which will be free for the first 2 years to everyone who purchases an iPhone 14.

But Apple’s satellite SOS service will be limited to a set of short, custom text messages, with the iPhone guiding you how to point it at the sky at the right angle and time to connect to a satellite. It might take 15 seconds or longer to send a message. If you need more seamless connectivity and elaborate features, you might want to stick to a full satellite communicator or sat phone. 

Is it worth getting a satellite phone?

Depending on how much you travel to remote areas; explore wilderness areas; or hike, bike, and climb outdoors, a satellite phone is definitely worth considering. To be safe it's worth it!

Every day around the world, people get lost, injured, or incapacitated in remote areas where cell phones don’t work. Having a satellite communicator device can be lifesaving for you and your loved ones.  

Can satellite phones be tracked?

Satellite phones can be tracked—that’s part of their purpose, since they help people find lost or injured people in remote locations. But depending on the device and your satellite phone service plan, you might be able to choose a satellite phone that can go into “stealth mode.”

How long does a satellite phone last?

The battery life of the new best satellite phones depends on the device you buy and on how you use it. For example, the Iridium Extreme has 30 hours of battery life when on standby, or 4 hours of talk time. The Garmin InReach Mini Messenger device has a battery life of up to 46 days with a message or location sent every 30 minutes, but the battery life is reduced to 23 days if you are in moderate tree cover.

Resources:

2024 Satellite Phone Cost, Plans and Devices 

Satellite Phone Wiki - 2023 Edition

 

Iridium satellite phone

The Satellite Phone Wiki 2023 Edition will be updated throughout the year.

Sources and references include:
Wikipedia.org and Satellitemobilephones.com

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

First generation late 1990s Iridium satellite phone

Satellite phone (Inmarsat) in use in Nias, Indonesia, in April 2005 after the Nias–Simeulue earthquake

"A satellite telephone, satellite phone or satphone is a type of mobile phone that connects to other phones or the telephone network by radio link through satellites orbiting the Earth instead of terrestrial cell sites, as cellphones do. Therefore, they can work in most geographic locations on the Earth's surface, as long as open sky and the line-of-sight between the phone and the satellite are provided. Depending on the architecture of a particular system, coverage may include the entire Earth or only specific regions. Satellite phones provide similar functionality to terrestrial mobile telephones; voice calling, text messaging, and low-bandwidth Internet access are supported through most systems. The advantage of a satphone is that it can be used in such regions where local terrestrial communication infrastructures, such as landline and cellular networks, are not available.

Satphones are popular on expeditions into remote locations, hunting, fishing, maritime sector, humanitarian missions, business trips, and mining in hard-to-reach areas, where there is no reliable cellular service.^[1] Satellite telephones rarely get disrupted by natural disasters on Earth or human actions such as war, so they have proven to be dependable communication tools in emergency situations, when the local communications system can be compromised.

 Some satellite phone models use satellites in geostationary orbit (GSO), which appear at a fixed position in the sky. These systems can maintain near-continuous global coverage with only three or four satellites, reducing the launch costs. The satellites used for these systems are very heavy (about 5000 kg) and expensive to build and launch. The satellites orbit at an altitude of 35,786 kilometres (22,236 mi) above the Earth's surface; a noticeable delay is present while making a phone call or using data services due to the large distance from users. The amount of bandwidth available on these systems is substantially higher than that of the low Earth orbit (LEO) systems; all three active systems provide portable satellite Internet using laptop-sized terminals with speeds ranging from 60 to 512 kbit per second (kbps).

Geostationary satellite phones can only be used at lower latitudes, generally between 70 degrees north of the equator and 70 degrees south of the equator. At higher latitudes the satellite appears at such a low angle in the sky that radio frequency interference from terrestrial sources in the same frequency bands can interfere with the signal.

Another disadvantage of geostationary satellite systems is that in many areas—even where a large amount of open sky is present—the line-of-sight between the phone and the satellite is broken by obstacles such as steep hills and forest. The user will need to find an area with line-of-sight before using the phone. This is not the case with LEO services: even if the signal is blocked by an obstacle, one can wait a few minutes until another satellite passes overhead, but a GSO satellite may drop a call when line of sight is lost.

• ACeS: This former Indonesia-based small regional operator provided voice and data services in East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia using a single satellite. It ceased operations in 2014.
• Inmarsat: The oldest satellite phone operator, a British company founded in 1979. It originally provided large fixed installations for ships, but has recently entered the market of hand-held phones in a joint venture with ACeS. The company operates eleven satellites. Coverage is available on most of the Earth, except polar regions.
• Thuraya: Established in 1997, United Arab Emirates-based Thuraya's satellites provide coverage across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Australia.
• MSAT / SkyTerra: An American satellite-phone company that uses equipment similar to Inmarsat, but plans to launch a service using hand-held devices in the Americas similar to Thuraya's.
• Terrestar: Satellite-phone system for North America.
• ICO Global Communications: An American satellite-phone company which has launched a single geosynchronous satellite, not yet active."

References & Further reading on Satellite Phone questions:

Satellite Phone Costs & Plans in 2023

Free Satellite Phone Plans

Where to buy a satellite phone