The Satellite Phone Option

Investing in a satellite phone to replace your mobile can be a better option for many photo-journalists and travel photographers. Fixed charges, better coverage and instant Internet connection can be better than high roaming charges.

by Jon Mitchell

While many think the mobile telephone to be indisposable, there is another way. If your journalistic itinary takes in many nations, then you may want to consider a satellite telephone service instead. Often this can work out cheaper than usually-high roaming charges that mobile phone companies usually charge.

Usually, the rates for calls on sat phones are higher, though you can use them virtually anywhere (do check about regulations in some countries though). On top of that, they also can provide an Internet connection too.

I have only ever used a sat phone a few times and these were portable, though large. Newer sat phone handsets are a bit pricey, though a few hundred pounds or euros will get you a handset.

Then it is matter of choosing a provider, much like a mobile phone. Also, while data transfer is often expensive through mobile networks to the Internet, satellite offers a cheaper price for sending and recieving data.

So if you do travel a lot, then it would seem that a good-quality satellite handset and provider could take a lot of stress out of everyday communications.

Major players in this business are Thuraya, Irridium, Globalstar and Inmarsat. The latter offers Inmarsat Broadband Global Area Network (B-GAN) - mobile data communications at up to 432kbit/s for Internet access, mobile multimedia and many other advanced applications and it makes telephone calls.

Some handsets include a GPS device as well.

Though shop around, of course, for the best deal. You can also rent handsets and services when going on specific trips if you feel that you don't need to own a handset.

So next time you groan at a huge roaming bill, then it is worth looking at the satellite option, as it is a great solution for many.