Iridium Satellite Phone - Why Iridium Satellite Phone

What is an Iridium Satellite Telephone?

Now smaller, lighter and more resistant to water, dust and shock than Motorola's previous offerings, the Iridium 9505A Satellite Phone is the newest addition to the Motorola Satellite Series ™ portfolio. The Iridium satellite telephone with Iridium satellite service is ideal for industrial or rugged conditions, yet aesthetically appealing to the traveling professional who is searching for the best satellite phone. Whether you get the Iridium satellite pre-paid airtime or standard monthly airtime, the new Iridium satellite telephone is for you

Why do you need a phone with Iridium satellite pre-paid airtime or regular airtime service?

Iridium satellite service allows travelers on business, adventure or pleasure, to stay in touch across seas and time zones, while in remote locations, or on the go. Our Iridium satellite phones feature one easy telephone number through the use of a personal subscriber identity module (SIM) card, which can help you stay connected. The Iridium 9505A is the newest and most popular model from the Motorola series.

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Iridium Satellite Phone - Re-Launch Iridium Satellite Phone

SOURCE: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1247385.stm

The satellite-based mobile phone service Iridium is to be re-launched this week.

Emerging from a $5bn bankruptcy, the new company, backed by a group of private investors, expects to go live on Friday.

Iridium Satellite
The group, called Iridium Satellite, paid $25m for the original company, saving its network of satellites from being sent out of orbit to burn up in the Earth's atmosphere.

Iridium fell from grace in August 1999 after it could no longer service its substantial debt and fell into Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Iridium system relays voice or data to its mobile phones from satellites in the sky.

The service, which was originally envisaged in the late 1980s as an essential tool for globe-trotting executives, did not launch until 1998, by which time much cheaper, terrestrial mobiles provided near universal coverage.

'A good place to start'
The mobile phone company Motorola and other investors spent more than $5bn on developing and launching the service.

Man will lap top and phone on boat Iridium

"Inheriting a $5bn system for $25m is very good place to start," said Jose del Rosario, an industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, commenting on the new company.

The new owners of Iridium plan to target the service at industries that operate in remote locations, such as oil rigs and cargo ships.

They have already signed a deal with the US Department of Defense.

Dan Colussy, chief executive of Iridium Satellite, said the new operation needed to achieve 60,000 subscribers to cover its costs.

This is about the same number of customers that the old company had before it went bankrupt. It had needed one million customers to break even.


Investor return
"Every business has its risks, but we think we've got an excellent chance of providing a return for our investors," Mr Colussy told journalists.

The new Iridium expects to charge customers about $1.50 a minute, compared with the $7 a minute charged by the former company.

Handsets will also be less than half the cost of the original Iridium phones, which were $3,500 to buy.

To begin with, the old handsets will continue to work with the new service. Motorola, the former parent of Iridium, will still produce the handsets, although Boeing is now running the system.

Despite its bankruptcy, the new owners decided to keep the name Iridium.

"The Iridium name has incredible brand-name recognition across the globe," said Ginger Washburn, chief marketing officer for Iridium Satellite.


Rival satellites
One of Iridium's main competitors will be satellite phone company Globalstar, which is also struggling to service a pile of debt.

When it launched its service in the US about a year ago, Globalstar started with cheaper calling rates and handsets than the former Iridium.

Nevertheless, the company was forced to halt debt repayments at the start of 2001 to ensure it had enough cash to survive the year.

Globalstar announced its own deal on Tuesday to extend its service coverage to outer space.

The company has developed a new modem for the space agency Nasa to allow a rocket or any other flight vehicle to communicate with ground controllers.

This would avoid the need for the traditional and costly equipment associated with flight missions.

France Telecom, Alcatel and Vodafone are among the co-founders of Globalstar.

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Iridium Satellite Phone - Info Of Iridium Satellite Phone

An Iridium satellite phone is the choice of many travellers who need a satellite phone. An extensive network of worldwide coverage of the Iridium phone a great choice for a satellite phone, no matter where you go.

One year after the satellite system launched for the first time in 1998, the company declared bankruptcy. This network was created with the goal of providing a complete global coverage. The company has 66 450 miles high satellites, each of which circles the globe once every 100 minutes.

The vast network of satellites is meant to ensure that an Iridium phone should be able to send and receive calls from anywhere in the world. The device must have a free line of sight to the sky to have a communication with two satellites at a time. Besides Iridium satellite phone rentals, fax and data capabilities are available, but not to the extent that it is on the networks of its competitor Globalstar.

Typically, a call from a fixed to an Iridium phone is going to cost $ 2 to $ 4 per minute. A call for an Iridium phone Saturday a fixed line is $ 1.50 per minute and calls between two Iridium phones are less than a dollar each minute.

One disadvantage of Iridium phones is uneven reliability of the signal, which must pass through different satellites to reach its final destination. The signal from an Iridium phone Saturday is more likely to lose its signal via satellite with all, it must pass through.

Despite these limitations, this system is widely used by the Department of Defense, as well as by individuals such as World travelers, scientists and businessmen.

Iridium satellite phones have also become confidence and a reputation as a provider of global communications.

The service is generally not available inside buildings, but it is a small inconvenience when you realize that you can use the Iridium satellite phones anywhere, if you're on the high seas or the South Pole. Having access to a vast global network will give you peace of mind that you venture into your trip, your Iridium phone confidence of life in the world.

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Iridium Satellite Phone - Overview Of Iridium Satellite Phone

The Iridium satellite networks has many satellites in low Earth orbit. At last count, there were 66 Iridium satellites and 13 operational satellites in orbit Iridium spare.

The satellite are 6 groups. Each group is in its own way in polar orbit, spaced 60 degrees in longitude exception. in the figure below each orbit appears twice, first satellites and move north and then the north pole and down the other side.

Think of each of the 12 columns of satellite slowly up or down in a north or south so that each satellite orbits the earth every 120 minutes. Each satellite looking down and has a beam coverage circle on 1800 miles in diameter each with a beam little overlap in the next cover. In this way, you ensure continuous operation at the phone off the next satellite - a little like driving a car and move along entry and exit of each terrestrial cellular phone coverage area.

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