How many phones do you have? Are you looking for a quote for: Home. Home-based Business. What is your buying time frame? Less Than 1 Month. More Than 6 Months. What is your data connection? Need New Connection.
Fill out the form below: First Name:. Last Name:. There are a number of commercial plans available to cover standard calling and data communications through Iridium Connected equipment, including GMDSS terminals. Please contact us to learn more. As required by the IMO, commercial services are "pre-empted" by Priority GMDSS traffic, meaning your distress call will take priority over other voice and data services. This is done by design to ensure the safety of your crew and vessel.
Iridium Certus maritime equipment manufacturers Cobham, Thales, and Intellian are currently working with Iridium to develop auxiliary equipment for their existing broadband terminals to offer GMDSS through the Iridium Certus platform. However, Iridium GMDSS users can select a specific Rescue Coordination Center from their own region or country for all emergency communications, regardless of vessel location.
If the onboard coordinators cannot speak English or Seaspeak, this is recommended. The main type of information broadcast through this service is navigational and meteorological information and warnings. Depending on location, additional information, such as anti-piracy and ice reports, may be available. Please visit our Iridium Certus page to find out more about the network, coverage areas and products available.
For further details or to request a call from one of our sales team please contact us on info theastgroup. View our exclusive Packages and Promotions. Our exclusive packages. View All Packages and Promotions. Iridium FAQ's. How do I make a call with my Iridium satellite phone? How do I call a landline or mobile number using an Iridium satellite phone? How do I receive calls on my Iridium satellite phone? How do I send an e-mail to an Iridium satellite phone? If I have a pre-paid Iridium satellite contract, how can I top-up my balance?
How can I test my Iridium satellite phone? Each configuration, or constellation, has its pros and cons. Geosynchronous satellites also called GEO orbit or high earth orbit satellites follow the Earth as it spins, meaning that they pretty much remain in a fixed location in the sky.
They maintain a high altitude orbit , at around 22, miles 35, kilometers , and they're always centered above the Earth's equator. These are huge, powerful satellites and just one of them can serve a large geographical area on the Earth's surface.
With a constellation of only three or four satellites, a company may provide service for most of the globe. As such, these satellites are designed to handle large volumes of data, meaning they'll work not only for voice calls, but also for video streaming, file sharing, texting , television and much more.
Inmarsat and Thuraya are two established companies that use geosynchronous configurations. One downside of geosynchronous satellites is that their high orbits mean significant transmission delays of around milliseconds one way, or a quarter-second round-trip.
So when you're speaking to someone, you may have to wait for a few moments before they answer your questions. Or you may hear a disconcerting echo, which can be frustrating. Also, their small numbers put these networks at somewhat greater risk for outages.
When one satellite requires maintenance or malfunctions , an entire section of the world may lose service until the issue is resolved. Because geosynchronous satellites hover mostly above the equator, they don't provide much coverage for the poles.
One of the biggest caveats to geosynchronous systems is related to size. To make a connection with these satellites you need a device that's roughly the size of a notebook computer; much of that bulk is comprised of a directional antenna. You also may need to calibrate the antenna and then point it towards the satellite in order to receive the best reception.
On the next page you'll read more about the perks and prices of picking a particular sat phone technology. LEO satellites have much lower orbits, at up to miles 1,km , and they're operated by companies like Globalstar and Iridium.
If geosynchronous satellites are the gorillas of the industry, LEO satellites are the mosquitos. They're much smaller and lighter, and there are a whole lot more of them. Because LEOs are so low in their orbits, a network might require as many as 60 satellites to provide coverage for most of the Earth. At any one time you may be within range of two or more of these satellites as they zoom around the planet at around 17, miles 27, kilometers per hour, completing an entire orbit in around two hours.
Those low, fast orbits mean reliable service for much of the planet. So, if you're a scientist with an emergency in Antarctica, you'll rely on LEO satellites for communications. LEOs are known for having superior call quality, lower delays of only around 50 milliseconds one way and greater dependability. They also need less battery power, so they don't suck as much juice as a geosynchronous-capable terminal. However, their data transmission speeds at around only 9, bits per second are much slower than geosynchronous systems.
But LEOs have a major selling point in that they don't require a large antenna on your phone. Instead, these phones might be just a bit bigger than a typical smartphone, meaning they're pocket portable. Whether you're using a geosynchronous or LEO system, for the best service, your phone needs a line-of-sight view to the satellite.
So if you're indoors, you may need to step outside to make a call. With a geosynchronous constellation, particularly, line of sight can be a problem, especially if you're in a dense forest or mountainous area with limited line of sight.
With a LEO constellation, though, you're bound to have repeated opportunities to connect as numerous satellites zip by overhead, although your window of opportunity may be limited to a few minutes at a time. So what if you're in an area of poor reception and someone on the other side of the planet desperately needs to contact you? In that case, as your signal waxes and wanes, you'll receive a pager alert indicating that someone wants you to call.
Then you can move to a location with better reception in order to make the connection. If you're in a scary, war-riddled country, though, you want to take every precaution and stay alert to danger. Keep reading and you'll see why in some places using a sat phone can be harmful to your health. By their very nature, satellite phones adhere to a different set of rules, not just technologically, but politically, too.
To that end, governments that prefer to control the communications options of their citizens are not fond of satellite phones. In peacetime, many government agencies can easily monitor cell phone communications. And in times of strife, those same organizations can power down cell towers to disrupt or destroy wireless communications; the same rules apply to many forms of Internet service. But sat phones are different.
Because sat phone skip ground-based communications towers, they aren't as easy to manipulate or monitor as cell phones. A determined regime may attempt to jam sat phone signals, but even these efforts may be only temporarily effective.
0コメント