SATELLITE PHONE AND SIM CARD

Scrubby,


I use my international roaming Telstra sim card in my satphone using the Iridium Satelite Service. I have used in in remote areas of QLD, NT SA VIC WA no problems whatsoever instant connection (not like Gloalstar) I have NO plan for it as it is used only in exceptional circumstances. The down side is that the cost per minute which is very high abouit $2:50 plus connection and if someone rings you, You also pay but I dont mind as I said I only use it very occasionally it's better that going onto a $30 per month plan...30x12= $360 per annum

"...but the Telstra bloke said that it would have been using the mobile network."

I can only speak for the Motorola satphones on the Iridium network - the 9500, 9505, and 9555 models.

That advice is rubbish.

If you have your next G (or Telstra GSM) sim in your satphone then your calls go through the Iridium satellite network. And you'll sure notice this when you get your bill, because they will scam you both incoming and outgoing.

International roaming must be activated. This works with post paid - not sure about prepaid.

Try the "search" function on this topic on this site.

George_M

The "assistants" working in phone shops know little enough about mobile phones - totally ignore anything they say about Satphones.

I assume you're talking about a Motorola 9500/9505/9555 Satphone working on the Iridium Satellite Network - these work ONLY on satellites - never on the mobile network.

A Telstra SIMcard will only work in Iridium Satphones if it's on a plan, International Roaming enabled and not barred from 1900 etc services.

A Telstra post paid plan card with international roaming and 1900 enabled will work in an Iridium phone anywhere in the world.

A prepaid Telstra card in an Iridium won't work anywhere.

An Optus, 3, Vodaphone, dodo, etc card won't work at all.

Iridium phones connect to satellites and do not connect to GSM 3G, next G or any other Mobile network so are not even aware of their coverage.

A Global star Sat service only works about 5% of the time.

Calls made AND received of an Iridium phone using a Tlestra post paid SIM cost $4.00 per minute.

It must be an Iridium Motorola Satphone with a Telstra SIM card on either Next G or GSM monthly plan with International Roaming enabled.
Prepaid SIM's do not work and neither do other carriers, I've tried vodaphone and Optus and neither work in my Motorola 9500.
The call costs are very steep as you pay both i/c and o/g at approx twice the normal satphone rate. If the phone is just for emergency use then it is the way to go.
Bear in mind though that if you have a problem which entails repeated lengthy phone calls to sort it out the cost quickly adds up.
The 9500 can only receive SMS regardless of whether it has a satphone SIM or mobile SIM. The later models can send and receive SMS which is a good way for people to contact you if you don't have the phone on all the time.
If using a mobile SIM then that is the number used to contact the satphone.

Hi everyone,
Sorry to ask a piggyback question on this subject, but can you interchange the SIM card between the sat phone and Next G while you are away or do you have to nominate to Telstra which phone you will be using while you are away?
Thanks in advance,
Sally

There does not need to be a one-to-one alignment between SIMcard provider and network provider.

A SIM card just authenticates the caller and confirms that a billing arrangement exists, so the network provider will get paid for the calls.

My "3" SIMcard gets authenticated on the Telstra NextG network, because "3" has set up a billing arrangement, so when I pay for my calls on my "3" bill, some of the money goes to Telstra for network usage.

Any Telstra Mobile phone SIM card (with Int Roaming, not Prepaid, not 1900 barred) gets recognised by the Iridium earth station in Arizona, because Telstra has a Billing arrangement to pay Iridium network usage charges.

Do not confuse Telstra Mobile Phone SIMcards with Telstra Iridium SIMcards which have an International number.

Regarding call costs, this is whay I got charged using my Telstra sim in my 9500 Sat phone : Date 04 June 2009
Item 247dbMn3
Place Iridium
Time 16:52
Duration 00:40
Full Price $5.290
Total $4.020

So go figure! Does't really matter in the scheme of things, only made that call to see for myself if it worked, and it did.

I am on a plan with TR Telecom, muuuuuuuch better value than Telstra, and only have to be connected to a 3 month plan if you wish.

Cheer
Peter

Hi guys,

I've also been thinking about the Iridium 9555 on Telstra using my NextG sim card. I spoke to a salesperson in Perth today from an independent supplier, aiming to find out the best price to purchase a handset outright. Looking at Ebay and some other suppliers, I know you can purchase a satellite phone for cheaper than $2695.

After some surfing, I read the Telstra Mobile Satellite Service Customer Terms available from the bottom of this page:

http://www.telstra.com.au/mobile/networks/network_info/satellite.cfm

Section 6 provides information pertaining to "Charges for using a Telstra cellular mobile SIM card in a satellite handset/device".

According to their Terms and Conditions Section 6.7 (as on 03 June 2010):

If you use a Telstra Mobile (GSM) SIM card in a satellite service handset/device your service coverage:

(a) in Australia will be limited to the coverage of Telstra’s GSM mobile network;

and

(b) outside Australia will be limited to the coverage of Telstra’s GSM mobile network and international roaming service.

So, by the letter of their own laws, the Salesman was correct in stating that you can use the Iridium network within the Telstra GSM mobile network.

HOWEVER:

I fail to see how Telstra could enforce this. And anecdotally, many members of this forum have recently stated that their phones work outside of usual GSM range.

So what we have is acknowledgment by Telstra that the SIM cards will indeed work in Iridium 9xxx series phones, however they only guarantee them to work in GSM coverage areas.

Denying access to stations outside of GSM coverage would be technically improbable if you consider that to do this the Satellite Phone (which operates on an entirely different band to GSM/NextG) would either have to pinpoint/use GSM towers (which they can't), or locate the station's position on the map and overly it accurately against a map of network coverage This seems unlikely for two reasons - the logistics of pinpointing someone's location accurately on a map from one satellite, and the fact that Telstra and Iridium are businesses - with the daylight robbery their users willingly let them get away with when using ordinary post-paid NextG SIM cards, why would they deny the calls?

What the Salesman did say, likely as an attempted sales pitch, was that he had spoken to many Telstra clients who had used the NextG SIM trick, who reported that the reliability of connecting to satellites with these non-satellite SIMs was decreasing. He stated that many customers were changing over to his SIM cards and billing arrangements.

Are there any Telstra post-paid users who can verify that the reliability of connecting to satellites has decreased in recent times?

Also, would people be able to kindly provide what model of Iridium phone they have had work with Telstra post-paid SIMs?

Charles

________________________
Charles Jenkinson
Perth, Western Australia

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