SUPPLIERS OF SATELLITE PHONES FOR PURCHASE OR RENT CALL US ON 01473 327813 

 

Why Choose an Iridium Satellite Phone

How Iridium Works

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Iridium is the only global satellite voice and data solution with complete coverage of the earth, including its oceans, airways and polar regions.

No other satellite communication company’s coverage compares – in some remote parts of the world, no other satellite coverage even exists.With 66 low earth orbiting, cross linked satellites and multiple spares, you can rest assured that when you need to make that call, you’ll be able to.  The grid of Iridium satellites operates as a complete network and is the largest commercial grouping of satellites in the world.

People and companies that rely on Iridium satellite phones include:

  • Explorers
  • Maritime
  • Aviation
  • Adventurers
  • Government/military
  • Sailors (both pleasure and commercial)
  • Emergency and humanitarian services
  • Transportation and utilities
  • Photographers
  • Mining,
  • Forestry 
  • Oil and gas, 
  • Heavy equipment, 
  • Companies that need redundancy in their communications equipment,
  • Non-governmental organisations (NGOs).

Since 2019, Iridium has got even better with the activation of a second generation global satellite constellation to meet the needs of future customers, as technology develops more powerful devices.  ‘Iridium Next’ is now delivering enhanced band width and data speeds with enhanced voice quality.

G Comm are a specialist reseller of Iridium products in the UK.

 

Information

Satellite Phone Help, Tips and Advice

I’ve got my phone – how do I add credit to it?

Adding airtime or credit to an Iridium phone is easy. If you are using a pre-pay phone the quickest way is to order your additional airtime using our online facility by clicking here.

Once I’ve bought my airtime I can use it when I like, right?

No – not entirely. You can use your satellite phone 24 hours a day 365 days a year so long as you have unexpired airtime (credit) on your phone.

Credit (on pre-pay phones) for airtime is not only sold by the amount of minutes you are buying but also for how long you have to use this credit. For example, you can purchase 75 minutes of call time, to be used anywhere in the world for $175, but this will expire after 30 days…whether you have used 1 minute or 74 minutes, the credit will reset to zero after 30 days.

Of course, there are ways to avoid losing time. You can add a 30 day extension for $47.95 to your unused credit, or you can purchase another plan:

for example

I originally purchased a 75 minute plan. On day 28 I have only used 40 minutes of the plan so I purchase a further 75 minute plan meaning I now have 110 minutes (35 minutes from my old plan + 75 minutes from my new plan) that will not expire for another 32 days (2 days from my old plan + 30 days from my new plan)

What’s this Pre-Pay / Post Pay all about?

You have a choice of how you pay for your satellite phone credit. You can either pay up front – pre-pay, or you can pay monthly based on usage – post-pay. The two are charged in different ways so knowing how you are going to use your phone will enable you to make the best decision – if you need to talk through your options give us a call on 01473 327813. You can find the rates for post pay accounts here and for pre-pay accounts here.

I bought an Iridium phone from one of your competitors. Can I still take advantage of your great airtime rates?

You can, but you will need to buy a new SIM card. Whilst these only cost £10 you will lose your old number and be allocated a new one when you switch. SIM cards can only be topped up by the company that sold you it in the first place. If you have a non-Iridium phone then our sim cards won’t fit at all so you won’t be able to purchase our airtime.


Activation of Airtime

You can activate your airtime at anytime (during UK business hours) you require. All you need to do is call or email us to advise when you want the airtime activated and we will do the rest. It typically takes us around 10 minutes to activate the airtime. 


Sending FREE messages to Iridium Satellite Phones

Did you know that you can send an Iridium phone a text message for free using this facility - http://messaging.iridium.com/. Simply add the telephone number of the phone you wish to contact, provide a reply email address and type your message (up to 160 characters).

This is useful when you want to pass a short message onto an Iridium user or if you want to confirm you are available to accept a call – remember, unless you are using an Iridium phone yourself it is very expensive to call a satellite phone using your landline or standard mobile (as much as £4 per minute on a BT landline) – it is far cheaper for the Iridium user to call you – anything from £1.37 down to £0.45 per minute dependant on which call package you buy and the strength of the £ against the dollar. Any text message reply from the Iridium phone will be delivered to the email box specified, so make sure you type the email address correctly.

BT charge more than £4 per minute whatever time you call it! Mobile providers will charge even more than that.


How do I make a call on my Iridium Satellite Phone?

This video from Iridium walks you through the process of making a call on an Iridium Satellite Phone.