Cell telephone technology marches relentlessly onwards . What were once luggage - sized bricks that made only vocalization calls are now slendersmartphoneswith capabilities limited only by your imagination . Well , your imagination … and your signal . Cell phones necessitate cellular towers , which relate with varying ( and often disappearing ) signal forte . In those places where cell phones dare not roll – that ’s where satellite headphone examine their spunk .
Satellite phones boldly go where cell phones ca n’t . They let you make phone calls from almost anywhere because their primary infrastructure is literally out of this existence . artificial satellite speech sound do n’t bank on a terrestrial cadre phone connection . Instead , they radiate their information at once to and from satellites orbiting Earth .
That technological saltation unleash planet phones ( orsat headphone ) from the bonds restricting their Earth - based sidekick . Thus , they are the communication machine of selection in areas with minimum or non - existent cell coverage , such as sparsely populated or short res publica , locating where governments restrict cell and Internet access , or where raw calamity wreck ground - base systems .
In orbiter systems , phones are n’t always referred to as earpiece . Instead , many people call themterminals . No matter the name , they ’re the necessary end - user machine that you need to link up to a satellite .
As with cubicle telephone , terminus have all basic earpiece feature . Yet , even though they are sonorous and bulkier than cell phones , they are n’t brimming with the nearly dateless capabilities that your smartphone has . Instead , a sat speech sound is a disrobe - down phone that you ’ll primarily apply to direct calls or charge short text messages .
You might enquire how a artificial satellite earphone is unlike than the GPS ( global emplacement satellite ) capability that ’s built into so many contemporary smart phones . GPS does n’t countenance you make calls or send text ; instead , it ’s plainly for make up one’s mind your positioning on the planet . Armed with GPS data , your speech sound can map out your way to a distant city or ascertain the closet Chinese eatery . A sat headphone , on the other hand , lets you make calls and remove data via its planet connection .
Keep take and you ’ll see how satellite systems are sometimes superior to cadre internet , and how not all sat phone configurations are the same .
A Satellite by Any Other Name
planet phone systems work very differently depending on the technologies each company deploy . Some companies choose forgeosynchronoussatellites , while others uselow Earth sphere ( LEO)systems . Each configuration , or constellation , has its pros and con .
Geosynchronous satellites ( also calledGEO orbitorhigh earth orbitsatellites ) follow the Earth as it spins , meaning that they pretty much stay in a fixed location in the sky . They maintain a high altitudeorbit , at around 22,000 miles ( 35,000 kilometers ) , and they ’re always centered above the Earth ’s equator .
These are huge , powerful satellites and just one of them can serve a big geographic area on the Earth ’s surface . With a configuration of only three or four orbiter , a company may provide service for most of the world . As such , these satellite are design to manage turgid volumes of information , meaning they ’ll lick not only for part calls , but also for picture cyclosis , file cabinet sharing , texting , telecasting and much more . Inmarsat and Thuraya are two established companies that habituate geosynchronous configuration .
One downside of geosynchronous satellites is that their high field have in mind significant infection delays of around 250 millisecond one elbow room , or a quarter - second round - tripper . So when you ’re address to someone , you may have to wait for a few import before they serve your head . Or you may hear a disconcerting echo , which can be frustrative .
Also , their lowly numbers put these networks at somewhat capital endangerment for outage . When one satellite require care ( or malfunctions ) , an entire section of the globe may recede service until the subject is resolved . Because geosynchronous satellites hover mostly above the equator , they do n’t provide much coverage for the terminal .
One of the biggest caveat to geosynchronous systems is related to size . To make a connexion with these satellites you need a gimmick that ’s roughly the sizing of a notebook computer reckoner ; much of that majority is comprised of a directional antenna . You also may need to calibrate the antenna and then charge it towards the satellite for receive the estimable reception .
On the next pageboy you ’ll read more about the perks and prices of picking a particular sit telephone set technology .
Leaping into LEO
LEO satellites have much lower field , at up to 930 mile ( 1,500 klick ) , and they ’re manoeuvre by company like Globalstar and Iridium . If geosynchronous satellite are the gorillas of the industry , LEO satellites are the mosquitos . They ’re much smaller and swooning , and there are a whole lot more of them .
Because LEOs are so low-down in their arena , a internet might require as many as 60 satellites to provide reportage for most of the Earth . At any one time you may be within kitchen range of two or more of these satellites as they soar around the planet at around 17,000 miles ( 27,359 klick ) per hr , completing an entire orbit in around two hour .
Those low , dissolute arena mean honest service for much of the planet . So , if you ’re a scientist with an emergency in Antarctica , you ’ll bank on LEO satellites for communicating .
LEOs are hump for having superior call character , lower delays ( of only around 50 millisecond one way ) and outstanding dependability . They also need less battery power , so they do n’t suck as much juice as a geosynchronous - capable terminal . However , their data point contagion speed ( at around only 9,600 bit per second ) are much slower than geosynchronous systems . serve it to say you wo n’t be find out YouTube if you ’re on an LEO internet .
But LEOs have a major merchandising detail in that they do n’t require a large aerial on your headphone . rather , these phones might be just a fleck bigger than a typical smartphone , meaning they ’re pouch portable .
Whether you ’re using a geosynchronous or LEO system , for the in effect service , your earpiece needs a line - of - sight scene to the satellite . So if you ’re indoors , you may take to step outside to make a call .
With a geosynchronous configuration , particularly , line of sight can be a problem , especially if you ’re in a dense forest or mountainous expanse with special line of mint . With a LEO constellation , though , you ’re bound to have repeated opportunities to connect as numerous satellites zip by overhead , although your windowpane of chance may be limited to a few minutes at a meter .
So what if you ’re in an area of poor reception and someone on the other side of the planet urgently needs to contact you ? In that case , as your signal waxes and ebb , you ’ll receive a beeper alarum signal that someone wants you to call . Then you may move to a location with better reception in gild to make the connection .
If you ’re in a scary , war - riddled land , though , you desire to take every caution and abide alert to peril . Keep reading and you ’ll see why in some places using a sat sound can be harmful to your health .
Sat Phone Smackdown
By their very nature , satellite phones hold fast to a different stage set of rule , not just technologically , but politically , too . To that end , governments that favour to operate the communications option of their citizens are not fond of artificial satellite sound .
In peacetime , many government agencies can easily supervise electric cell phone communications . And in times of strife , those same organisation can power down cell towers to cut off or destroy wireless communication ; the same rules apply to many variant of cyberspace service of process .
But model phone are different . Because sat phone skip earth - based communication towers , they are n’t as easy to manipulate or supervise as cell phones . A determined regime may assay to block seat telephone set signals , but even these efforts may be only temporarily efficacious .
Thus , oppressive regime actually make it illegal to possess a sat speech sound . They ca n’t stop the applied science . But they can make you afraid to employ it .
In Bangladesh , for example , a court sentenced Anup Chetia to prison for monomania of a sit speech sound , which he was using for a range of anti - government activities [ generator : Hossain ] . In North Korea , you could now use a ( government - put out , and thus monitored ) cellphone phone , but sat phones are purely disallow [ source : Lee ] .
As the Arab Spring propagate to Syria , which later on pass into civil war , the governance sever many cellphone and net communication . This pressure rebels and activists to apply sit down phone . In fact , there was such a tumid spike in demand for sat phones that the neighborhood ’s primary service provider , Thuraya , reported shortages of French telephone [ source : Hamid ] .
Using a sat phone might mean free - roaming calling capableness in a war zona . But it does n’t intend you ’re invisible . Even if they ca n’t shut down your call , many governments can track sit speech sound signaling locations unless your system of rules employ sign - sputter lineament .
Sat phones are n’t vulnerable only to human break . They ’re also open to the whims of Mother Nature . As with cell phones and other radio set - free-base communications , sat phones may be deliver useless in the brass of massive solar flare and other instinctive phenomena .
On the next varlet you ’ll see that solar flares and military military junta might be the last of your sat earpiece concerns . rather , these earphone might pull up stakes your bank account hurting .
Sat Phones Flatten Wallets
Compared to their ubiquitous cell telephone set counterparts , sat headphone are a outer boundary technology . As with so many exceptional machine , they are more dear to utilize than more walker phones . cost may vary well depending on whether your provider uses geostationary or LEO satellites .
Regardless of supplier , the terminal and French telephone are always more expensive than cubicle phones . In a fourth dimension when many jail cell earpiece service providers give phones off for innocent , sit down phones be a minimum of a few hundred dollar . As of 2013 , for a adept - than - mean LEO handset , you could easily drop around $ 1,000 . For a briefcase - sized geosynchronous - compatible phone , you ’ll blow expend several thousand dollars .
Yet that initial investment will likely be a drop in the proverbial pail . Because to make call , you ’ll spend a practiced chunk of money per minute . Prices diverge greatly depending on the supplier and who you ’re call , but it ’s not rare to spend around $ 1 per bit and nearly the same for a single text edition subject matter . Receiving birdcall is an even pricier proposition , peculiarly if the call arise from alandline . In those billet , you may wind up paying several dollars per minute . That damage jumps much , much high if you ’re calling a earphone in another satellite party ’s web .
Satellite party operators clearly sympathise that their services are much more expensive than a distinctive jail cell phone plan . That ’s why they often trade minutes as pre - make up plans . You ’re less likely to mindlessly run up bankruptcy - induce bills if you ’ve already spend that money in advance .
You may be able to dodge some visit fees by investing in adual - mode sat phone . These phones are compatible with unconstipated cell sound networks , and by nonremittal , they ’ll route your communications through them . But in times with you ’re out of mobile phone tower range , the telephone set will switch to satellite mode , think of you ’ll almost always have service .
Or , instead of jumping in by purchase a phone , you’re able to also consider a rental . You ’ll be able-bodied to rent a introductory terminal or handset for just a few dollar a day . So , for brusk trips or when you ’re just trying out the service , rentals are a money - make unnecessary choice .
Sky - high prices apart , sit down phones fill a very detectable gap in our historic period of omnipresent communication theory . Without them , many of the areas of the world would be unreachable by speech sound . And when you really need to make that call , there ’s no damage too high to bear .
Lots More Information
Satellite phone technology is presently red hot in some regions of the world – most notably , areas of fight and disaster where regular cell communication is n’t possible . Still , the time to come of sat speech sound is at best rather murky . Constantly expanding cell reportage means former planet - only customers have more ground - based ( and thus , more low-cost ) options . Yet as sat phone networks get savvier and the humans get more technologically chaotic , you may find one day that a sat telephone set is the only matter between you and dead atmosphere .
