 AUTHOR'S NOTE - this feature was written in 1998 with some updating during 2004. NEW - Some reviews of each system have been added during 2005. Global roaming via satellite on a handheld unit became a reality during 1998, and it looks like users of all UK networks will be able to benefit. As useful as GSM roaming already is when travelling abroad, there are still limitations in terms of coverage. The percentage of the globe (in terms of geographical area) covered by GSM is (I believe) only about 3% (population coverage is of course significantly higher). There are many remote areas of the world with no coverage whatsoever. An example close to home, some parts of Snowdonia in North Wales still have no coverage on any network. Using low earth orbit satellites and special handsets, truly global mobile phone coverage will be possible for the first time. Globalstar - Vodafone has a stake in one of the satellite network operators, Globalstar (which went live in 1999), Vodafone UK offer roaming to their subscribers on this network. Globalstar suffered an initial setback when a rocket launch failed in an explosion after lift-off, destroying its payload of nine of the Globalstar constellation of satellites. As of 2004, Globalstar does not offer truely global coverage as certain parts of the earth are not covered, eg Indian subcontinent, African continent (I don't know if this is due to the rocket launch failure). Read my review of using the Globalstar system. Iridium - A second operator, Iridium, has been live since September 23rd 1998. The company was financially re-structured in 2002 and the global service no longer includes GSM roaming. However it is a truly global system covering all the earth's surface including oceans and poles. (I think this is the only truly global operator in respect of handheld satellite phones). There are three countries in the world that the service is blocked in, by request of the Governments in question (Poland, Sri Lanka, North Korea). Read my review of using the Iridium system Thuraya - During the Gulf War in 2003, another system called Thuraya came to prominence - this is a satellite system mainly covering a Middle East, (with Europe, much of Africa and parts of Asia) footprint but many people relied on it in Baghdad as no GSM coverage was available there at the time. Some phones have built-in GSM as well. GSM users can roam on Thuraya if their home network has a roaming agreement in place - all the UK networks have roaming with Thuraya, except '3'. Read my review of using the Thuraya system. Not only will these new services benefit those travelling
abroad, but it will also provide a mobile phone service for people when they are outside
network coverage in isolated or rural parts of their own country. There are two
limitations as far as I can see is that the system won't help improve indoor coverage, as
line of sight to a satellite is required, and handsets are bulky for the average consumer,
compared with standard GSM units. There are other satellite services available, such as
Inmarsat, and other regional services in the Far East but I have focussed on operators
that provide handheld units with coverage including Europe. Left/above: photo of the Iridium pager and
phone handset. Last updated: October 2005.
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