<< Inmarsat | Equipment Overview | Thuraya >>
Globalstar uses a network of 48 low earth orbit satellites to offer a high quality voice and data service, coupled with low airtime and hardware costs.
Coverage
Coverage is not gobal, but includes main European and Med land and waters, an almost complete Atlantic crossing and coverage of the Caribbean waters and mainland America.
Running Costs
Globalstar offer cheaper and smaller handsets than most of the other satellite networks, and call costs are from 45p per minute. This makes them ideal for emergency usage.
Equipment
There are a variety of handsets available including the portable Telit SAT-550 and Telit SAT-600 models which can use a take a normal GSM SIM card and automatically switch between the mobile phone and satellite networks
Fixed installation equipment is also available.
Summary
If you are restricted to coastal waters and don't need extensive offshore or global coverage, then Globalstar offers somewhat higher quality calls than Iridium or a low end Inmarsat system and cheaper handsets. Computer data speeds are also higher and the price per minute is lower.
<< Inmarsat | Equipment Overview | Thuraya >>
