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Comment by xvilka | Hacker News Reader

They're already produced and will start soon launching Iridium NEXT [1] satellites, moreover developed a whole platform called Iridium Prime [2].

[1] https://www.iridium.com/network/iridiumnext

[2] https://www.iridium.com/company/industryleadership/iridiumpr...

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It would be pretty nice if they partnered up with someone like Verizon and offered service in places where there is no regular 2G/3G service, your phone would need to have a chip for it I suppose.

The Iridium phones are pretty big--think landline cordless phone handset--and often have an extensible antenna. Given the mania for thinner and thinner phones, this probably isn't going to fly.

The network access is also expensive--think $50+ per month, with a handful (literally, like...10) of text messages and voice minutes included, with ~$1 per extra minute/message. If you live and work in somewhere with a modicum of infrastructure, this also probably isn't worth it.

(FWIW: I think part of their initial pitch was to Important Executives who need to be in touch with the office 24/7, but that seems to have fallen by the wayside and it's increasingly targeted at people going/living/working in remote areas).

Sat phones are quite common where I live in Montana (you only have to drive 10 miles out of town to lose cell reception). The geosynchronous Inmarsat service is typically better/cheaper than Iridium today. I pay around $35/mo for more call time and SMS than I need to use. The phones are reasonably small but very old-school (like a 2000-vintage GSM handset). Because it uses satellites over the equator you need a southern aspect to connect. Folks rock climbing up north-facing cliffs or sailing north of 70 degrees need Iridium :)

Interesting! We looked at Inmarsat and Globalstar when we were in Alaska, but we were at the very edge of their coverage area and it didn't seem worth it to have a potentially-flakey phone for emergencies.

I gather it's gotten a lot better since then, though.

I seem to recall that, during the initial deployment in the 90-ies, I read about China requesting that some parts of its territory be excluded from coverage. But I cannot find any links to that, and the coverage map doesn't seem to have any holes now.

I know that you have to register your phone specially to use it in russia, but I have no idea if that actually affects reachability.

I know Iridium is illegal in Kuba, but works just fine there.

I don't recall any restriction in china, currently.

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