Satellite Phone Buzz

Unpacking Thuraya XT phone

Ivan Vidyakin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 01:17:38 +0000

We received the first Thuraya XT satellite phones to the inventory, check out the unpacking pictures!

BGAN Explorer 727 firmware update

Ivan Vidyakin — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 04:23:21 +0000

Inmarsat released an update to the firmware (Ver. 1.10) for its BGAN Explorer 727 satellite terminal. All users are recommended to update their terminals.

Thuraya XT on sale in USA

Ivan Vidyakin — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:12:27 +0000

The new Thuraya XT Satellite Phone can now be pre-ordered in USA & Canada. The price is $999 plus the cost of a Thuraya prepaid plan, otherwise pay extra $199. Thuraya XT phones should be available for shipment in about two weeks, we ship to US, Canada and anywhere in Americas.

Iridium reports growth in 2Q 2009

Ivan Vidyakin — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 05:02:57 +0000

Iridium Satellite LLC released its operating and financial results for the 2nd quarter 2009. Although the number of subscribers rose by healthy 23.9% to 347,000 (compared to the same period of 2008), the revenue remained flat, growing by just 1.2% to $82.7 million. Still, the net income jumped by more than 50% to $28.6 million, which is quite impressive.

By attracting new subscribers and releasing new products and services (such as the Iridium 9555 handset and the OpenPort maritime communications system) in the last several quarters, Iridium is going to be well positioned to enjoy recovery in the global economic climate.

Thuraya XT satellite phone introduced

Ivan Vidyakin — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:40:43 +0000

Thuraya will soon update its line of satellite phones. The current SG-2520 and SO-2510 handsets will be joined by the new rugged Thuraya XT handset, which is promised to be “the only satellite phone in the world to meet the industry’s highest criteria for splash and dust resistance and shock proofing”.

Here is some technical stuff:
System: Thuraya SAT only (no GSM like in SG-2520)
Dimensions: 128 x 53 x 26.5mm
Weight: 193 g
Display: 2” / 262K colors
GmPRS (always-on data): 60/15 kbps (Down/Up)
Fax and Data: 9.6 kbps
Battery Life: Talk time up to 6 hours and standby time up to 80 hours
PC compatibility: Windows Vista, XP/2000, NT
External Interfaces: Data Cable (UDC) with USB connector.
Retail price:: ~$1,000

How successful the new phone is going to be is unclear, since it doesn’t really offer any new features except for its rugged case. But new handsets in the mobile satellite industry are rarity, so we are always pleased to see one on the market.

A solo row across the Atlantic with Iridium

Ivan Vidyakin — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:27:43 +0000

This coming December, Katie Spotz, a young American from Ohio, will undertake a solo row across the Atlantic Ocean. After 2,500 miles and 70-100 days at sea, she will become the youngest person ever to row an ocean solo and the first American to row from Africa to South America. With this endeavor Katie promotes safe drinking water projects around the world, that’s why her row is named Row For Water.

Besides other equipment on the boat, she will have an Iridium 9505A satellite phone for communicating with the land crew, updating her event blog and, of course, for any emergency situation (which we all hope won’t happen). So keep tuned to Katie’s blog and Twitter account for updates! Good luck, Katie!

Thuraya overhauls its prepaid offerings

Ivan Vidyakin — Wed, 13 May 2009 15:25:55 +0000

On May 8, 2009, Thuraya quite unexpectedly discontinued its CLASSIC flat-rate prepaid plan for satellite phones. No new activations are possible, even for the SIM-cards purchased before that date.

All existing Thuraya CLASSIC, SUPER and EASY prepaid accounts have been converted to the new Thuraya PREPAY plan with one-year validity commencing on May 10, 2009. The PREPAY plan features $1.49/min. flat rate to landlines and cellphones around the world, $0.99/min. in-network calling and $0.49 per text message. Incoming calls and messages are always free (for the Thuraya subscriber). The annual fee is $39.00, waived for heavy users (>$1500 of satellite calls per year).

As a result, Thuraya currently offers three prepaid plans: PREPAY, ThurayaECO (cheap calls in 83 countries) and MARITIME.

Thuraya new coverage

Ivan Vidyakin — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 02:01:17 +0000

Thuraya has finally released their new satellite coverage map. After launching the third satellite, Thuraya’s reach is expanding to the Far East, Southeast Asia and Australia — a good move to compete with Iridium and Inmarsat.

Inmarsat launches ISatPhone

Ivan Vidyakin — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 23:48:38 +0000

We have another (an quite powerful!) player in the satellite handheld phone business: Inmarsat. Today the UK-based satellite operator and a provider of maritime and portable high-speed Internet data services has unveiled the ISatPhone, its version of the mobile satellite voice service already provided by competitors Iridium, Thuraya and Globalstar. The satellite phone (manufactured by Solectron) will use the capacity of the new Inmarsat I-4 satellite and provide voice and rudimentary data service in parts of Africa, Asia and Australia. Nothing fancy in the legacy handset itself (compared to the new fancy Thuraya phones), which has been inherited from AcES, but Inmarsat is already working on design of a new handset.

Interested? Get a phone or request more info!

Thuraya expands GSM roaming

Ivan Vidyakin — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 05:42:45 +0000

Thuraya announced it would start allowing its prepaid customers to roam onto partner GSM networks and make outgoing calls and send text messages. Until now, prepaid customers were only allowed to receive calls at a flat rate of $0.25 per minute, while postpaid (contract) Thuraya subscribers with their GSM-compatible were granted the full access to 220 partner GSM networks around the world.

The prepaid roaming will initially be available in the network of Ettihad Etisalat (Mobily) of Saudi Arabia with expansion to other networks in plans.

This step seems to be an effort to increase Thuraya attractiveness to global travelers in the wake of the increased competition from other mobisat operators and the upcoming (very, very soon!) launch of its new generation SG-2520 handset, which will be capable of operating in both Thuraya and GSM (900/1800/1900) networks.

A serious problem here will be fraud prevention, so it would be interesting to see how Thuraya will address this. Inter-operator settlements can take weeks to clear, so a potential crook can purchase a Thuraya prepaid account (no credit checks required), roam onto a GSM network, talk a whole lot of minutes and throw the SIM-card away.

Thuraya has a couple of options here. First, it will definitely implement a sophisticated automatic system of fraud detection, which is already in place for postpaid customers. The system detects unusual call activity and informs the service provider (SP) about a potential fraudulent customer, so the SP can take necessary actions.

Secondly, it can introduce (or rather enforce on the SPs) a more rigorous procedure of activating prepaid customers. This is not likely, as such hurdles may deter many potential customers.

Thirdly, Thuraya can just pass over the liability for unauthorized call charges onto its service providers, which distribute the equipment and airtime in regional markets. In this case, it would the SP’s responsibility to fight fraud in order not to face thousands of dollars of unauthorized charges. SPs won’t be very happy about this… :)