Satphones: Can You Hear Me Now?

Categorized | Wireless

Posted on09 June 2010. Tags: Hear, Satphones

Global satphone provider Iridium, today announced new features for its Iridium 9555 satellite handset. The latest firmware release for the handheld satphone includes the ability to directly interface with computers running on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7, as well as Mac Version 10.4 or later.

The upgrades now make it easier for users to send and receive e-mails and exchange computer files through the Iridium satellite phone. The Iridium 9555 connects to the laptop with a standard mini-USB cable.

In addition, the Iridium 9555 has enhanced short-message service (SMS) text capabilities. Iridium 9555 users can now send and receive long SMS texts up to 1,000 characters in length to an e-mail address or mobile phone. Previously, the Iridium 9555 offered the ability to text up to 160 characters.

Iridium’s new OpenPort maritime satellite service was designed to meet the rising demand for high-bandwidth communications for ships at sea. The IP-based system offers a combination of up to three independent phone lines and a separate data circuit with scalable rates to 128 kbps. The compact, lightweight Iridium OpenPort antenna has no moving parts and is easy and inexpensive to install.

“Since introducing Iridium OpenPort to the maritime market in late 2008, we have delivered and activated nearly 2,000 terminals on ships around the world,” said Greg Ewert, executive vice president, global distribution channels, Iridium.

Iridium NEXT, anticipated to begin launching in 2015, will maintain the existing Iridium constellation architecture of 66 cross-linked satellite LEO covering 100% of the globe with enhanced mobile communications services.

In August 2008, Iridium selected two companies — Lockheed Martin and Thales Alenia Space — to participate in the final phase of the procurement. On June 2, 2010 the winner of the new Iridium NEXT contract was announced as Thales Alenia Space, in a $2.9 billion deal.

Calls from satellite phones to landlines are usually around $0.80 to $1.50 per minute, says Wikipedia, while calling them from landlines and regular mobile phones is more expensive. While used satphones for the Iridium, Thuraya and Globalstar networks can go for US$200, the newest handsets are still expensive, with most well over $1,000 new.

TerraStar (using MSS spectrum) and SkyTerra (using 1.6 GHz spectrum) have been talking up their coverage of the entire United States with a single satellite using Boeing’s GeoMobile platform. On July 20, 2009 TerreStar completed the first end-to-end satellite-terrestrial phone call over TerreStar-1, but little has been heard from the company, save for terrestrial spectrum sharing plans with unnamed cellular operators.

SkyTerra plans to launch SkyTerra1 and SkyTerra2 satellites, based on the Boeing 702 Geo-Mobile bus, in 2010.

The FCC approved for portions of the S band between 2.0 and 2.2 GHz for the creation of Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) networks in connection with Ancillary Terrestrial Components (ATC). There are presently a number of companies attempting to deploy such networks, including GlobalStar, ICO and TerreStar.

The ATC authority allows Globalstar to use 11 MHz of its 1.6/2.4 GHz satellite radio frequencies for a complementary terrestrial wireless service. Open Range plans to lease mobile satellite spectrum from Globalstar under Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) authority granted by the Federal Communications Commission in October 2008.

Open Range Communications, hopes to build the nation’s largest Rural Utilities Service (RUS) funded deployment spanning 17 states, 546 rural communities, and reaching up to 6 million people.

TMF Associates, which specialize in MSS spectrum research, says Globalstar has access to 11.35MHz of spectrum on the uplink (1610-1621.35MHz), and is licensed for 16.5MHz of spectrum on the downlink (2483.5-2500MHz). But currently the satellite phone operator uses only 5.5MHz of spectrum in each direction for ATC. Globalstar has applied to the FCC for permission to use its entire licensed spectrum allocation for ATC.

According to the Financial Times, T-Mobile is planning to launch a national U.S. LTE network, in partnership with Harbinger Capital Partners. Harbinger (Wikipedia) owns large stakes in Inmarsat, SkyTerra and Terrestar. It would use those satellite frequencies to create their “4G” cellular network.