Satellite Phone

Sat phones are divided into 3 types: Installed, Laptop and Hand Held. Each have different features and some have different options like fax, data or Internet. Predominately, travellers use hand-held sat phones and so in this article we'll only focus on that option.

Why use a Sat Phone?

It stands to reason, that travellers need a communication system that they can rely on. Since satellite technology has evolved and is now a realistically priced solution for communications, there has been a insurgence of the use of satellite phones (satphone) in business, education and recreation. The uptake of satellite technology is most obvious in the tourism sector, with hand-held satellites easy to use, easy to obtain, and providing a reliable, private, communication service to users.





Sat phones are best suited to people who wish to enable other people (family/work) to make direct dial voice calls with you whilst you are travelling, Call charges are still a little higher than regular mobile phone charges, however the use of the satellite phone would be limited to essential communication only. Most satphone will have a voice mail box and some have SMS.

One of the most appealing features of the newer satphones is the dual-mode functionalities in some handsets - there are now GSM/Satphones. This means that you can own one handset that can be both your mobile phone and your satphone. This is particularly useful now that the improvement in mobile coverage Australia wide means that the emergency phone you rely on when heading into the remote bush is the same as the phone you use for day-to-day social and business use back home.

To Hire or Buy?

You can now pick up a sat phone for as little as $900 connected to a plan. Most service providers will charge a connection fee (flag fall), a monthly access fee (which may include a certain amount of free calls) and then your call costs. Call costs can vary and are usually lower per minute if you are on a higher month plan (similar to mobile phone plans).

Before buying a satellite phone, check out if you qualify for the Government Subsidy. This can save purchasers up to 85% off the retail price of a satellite phone (to a maximum of $1000). For more information on this subsidy please click:
Dept Broadband Communications and Digital Economy (DBCDE).

Hiring may be a more cost effective option for some travellers, particularly if you wouldn't use it in your normal course of life and work (although note the comments above, dual-mode handsets that are GSM/Sat). By hiring, you will only pay the access fee for the time of the hire period and so this is a very flexible option. Hiring your satphone will also mean you benefit from using the latest hand-sets and accessories, which hopefully means they are the most reliable and compact. Additionally, if you have hired a satphone and experienced hardware failure (even accidental damage), then a replacement can be organised quickly.

There has been a massive increase in the number of companies now offering sat phones for hire, with many offering short term rental terms, easy pick up/drop off options (many will even courier the phone to your door from any state of Australia), standard accessories for charging by 12v/240v, external antennas for improved mobile reception etc. These companies will normally have a service arrangement with their preferred satellite provider, which takes away the hassle of working out plans and fees. However, depending on how you use your sat phone (ie. mostly to receiving incoming, or mostly to make outgoing, calls), you may find one service provider is more suited to your needs than another.

The use of satellites to remote control "assets" anywhere in the world from a computer has revolutionised many businesses. Fleet operators can track their vessels and vehicles via satellite with small terminals relaying information through the internet to desktop applications. Taxi drivers are now more safer with access to email and message services relayed to and from their vehicles via satellite and now, recreational drivers can send and receive information from their vehicles via an internet managed satellite system.

Satellite technology is improving the speed and reliability of sending and receiving all sorts of video, data and audio content regardless of distance from infrastructure, which ultimately means that residents and travellers will find a steady increase in communications/entertainment capabilities regardless of distance from towns or cities.

Broadband by satellite, high speed internet, video conferencing, multicasting, voice over internet protocol, and mobile broadband are all new growth areas where satellite technology is changing our lives in both business and recreation. Mobile broadband is already achievable wherever you can drive a 4WD, which is fantastic news for Australians. Essentially, you can now have any broadband related services at your fingertips simply by installing a small satellite receiver to your vehicle - some receivers will work only whilst stationery, whilst others are being designed for continuous use even whilst travelling at high speeds. The only criteria is a clear line to the satellite(s) used by the service provider.

One of the major drivers of satellite technology is its inherent strength as a broadcast medium. Safety alerts, regional information and other targeted messages could well be sent direct to drivers in their vehicles around the country via satellite multicasting. We can certainly expect to gain access to more reliable information when on the road through new services provided by either government or private services using multicasting in the future. Once such device is the SPOT Satellite Messenger, which when synchronised with the ExplorOz EOTrackMe service provides a reliable and real time tracking service.

It really does appear that any product coming onto today's market using satellite technology is worth a good look.

Telstra has a unique Iridium agreement - being the only service provider globally to integrate the Iridium network into their own GSM network. This is a complex customisation called Iridium TMS. In May 2000, another hand held satellite phone system was launched, this time by Vodafone Globalstar. There was a change of ownership and name to Globalstar Australia in early 2003.

Since then the face of satellite telecommunications has been developing at a fast pace with consumers continually demanding faster, more reliable, and cost-effective voice and data services.

GEO satellites are quite ideal for direct radio and television broadcasting, satellite TV and meteorology because they require only one ground station for continuous coverage and the antennae does not have to move around. The satellite also offers a continuous view of a large area of the earth’s surface which is known as the satellite footprint. The downfalls to this type of satellite especially in regards to voice calls on satellite phones, is the noticeable delay of between 500 and 600 milliseconds. This is because the data signal needs to travel all the way up to the satellite and all the way back down to Earth. The satellite phone systems in Australia that use the GEO satellites are Optus MobileSat and Inmarsat.

Low-Earth orbiting satellites (LEO)

A satellite in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) is much closer to Earth, usually at an altitude of between 380km and 800km. A satellite this close to the Earth must be accelerated to around 27,300km an hour just so the gravity of the Earth will not pull it back in. These speeds allow a satellite to circle the Earth every 100 minutes and sometimes you can see them with the naked eye because a lot of them emit bright flashes that are caused by reflections from the sun. These are known as satellite flares and can last up to 20 seconds. LEO orbiting satellites generally consist of a constellation of many satellites working together. Due to the fact they’re much closer to the Earth than GEO satellites, this makes them ideal for mobile communications. There can be some limitations with a satellite constellation that does not fully encompass the Earth and if this is the case, you may experience short ground contact periods which can be up to 10 minutes or less, depending on the pass and locations of the satellite. They can also experience eclipses which are satellite passages through the Earth’s shadow.