Monday, Sep 06, 2010 at 11:42
Sorry Graham I didin't fully reply to your post.
I realize that the Telstra option is a good option for some. As you say you have only had a total bill for $3.77 for the one minute call you have made.
However as you can imagine everyone's situation is different. I recall from another post that your call was a short
test one, fair enough. I used the telstra sim in my Sat
phone too for a while however it turned out to be less attractive that it appears when you actually start to use it.
The biggest problem was that I could not filter incoming calls. In fact the caller ID doesn't work on the sat
phone so if you want incoming calls at all you have to answer them to know who it is. Ka Ching $4.00
My outgoing bill was minimal but I found that I had to either accept an outragous incoming bill or turn it off all the time. So in that respect it limits that Satphone to a one way service. For me that is almost useless. The big issue is incoming callers don't care ( or know) that you are paying $4.00 per minute and call you for important things like to sell you cheap energy for your
home. It was really useless and frustrating and made me search for a better option. To give you an idea, your Sat
phone will ring just as frequently as your mobile does whn you are
home.
If you want a super emergency outgoing only service that is one step up from a SPOT or EPIRB with no incrimental cost then the Telstra card may be attractive. However if you want a 2 way service that is on all the time you are traveling, and callers will only specifically call you for proper reasons then IMHO the TR Telecom can't be beat for value.
The other interesting side note is that when you have a real emergency, like I recently had in the simpson where I had to call for a doctor for someone, you may find that you end up spending about 40 mins or more on the
phone.
With TR Telecom for that month my bill for 43 mins was $92.66 ( call costs were $86.00,and I had it activated for 10 days and $3.33 credit). If I was still on Telstra that bill would have been about $172. Of course in cases like that the price is secondary but for this year the costs will end up being about the same.
I guess my point is 50c per day when not in use, and $1.00 when in use for a true 2 way sat
phone is better value for me than a free one that can only make outgoing calls. Each to their own but something for people looking at both options to consider before they go away.
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