Mobile Phones Guide

Satelitte Phones
Wikipedia

Defined Tag: Satelitte Phones.

A satellite telephone, satellite phone, or satphone is a type of mobile phone that connects to orbiting satellites instead of terrestrial cell sites. Depending on the architecture of a particular system, coverage may include the entire Earth, or only specific regions.

 
Satellite phone (Inmarsat)The mobile equipment, also known as a terminal, varies widely. Early satellite phone handsets had a size and weight comparable to that of a late 1980s or early 1990s mobile phone, but usually with a large retractable antenna. More recent satellite phones are similar in size to a regular mobile phone while some prototype satellite phones have no distinguishable difference from an ordinary smartphones[1][2]. Satphones are popular on expeditions into remote areas where terrestrial cellular service is unavailable.

A fixed installation, such as used shipboard, may include large, rugged, rack-mounted electronics, and a steerable microwave antenna on the mast that automatically tracks the overhead satellites. Satellite phones have notoriously poor reception indoors, though it may be possible to get a consistent signal near a window or in the top floor of a building if the roof is sufficiently thin. The phones have connectors for external antennas that are often installed in vehicles and buildings. Some systems also allow for the use of repeaters, much like terrestrial mobile phone systems.

Satellite phones are usually issued with numbers in a special country calling code. For example, Inmarsat satellite phones are issued with codes +870 through +874, while Iridium satellite phones are issued with codes +881 6 and +881 7. Some satellite phones are issued with ordinary phone numbers, such as Globalstar satellite phones issued with U.S. telephone numbers.

In some countries ruled by oppressive regimes such as Burma and Bangladesh possession of a satellite phone can be illegal[3][4] as their signals will usually bypass local telecoms systems hindering censorship and wiretapping