On Aug 6, 3:11 am, SatPhone...@gmail.com wrote:
> On Aug 1, 11:01 am, RichardC <lyndhurs...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > On Jun 29, 6:22 pm, RichardC <lyndhurs...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > Does anyone else on here use aGlobalstarsatellite phone with a UK
> > > Vodafone SIM card? I don't seem to be able to get my Ericsson R290 to
> > > work anymore - I just get a "No network found" message in satellite
> > > mode. GSM mode is working fine. Has the roaming agreement ended or
> > > could it be a fault with my phone? Vodafone customer services aren't
> > > much use - they were unaware of this facility when I contacted them.
> > > Could somebody give their phone a try to see if it still works? Thanks
> > > in advance.
>
> > I'm answering my own question here, but the information might be
> > useful to others. After buying another R290, thinking that it was a
> > fault with the phone, I find that the problem still persists.
> > Apparently Globalstar are having problems with their satellites
> > breaking down and the service is degraded.
>
> > See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalstar
>
> > I hope that the problem is sorted out soon as my emergency phone won't
> > be much use in an emergency if I can't get a signal.
>
> Corporate globalstar that now owns the gateways in north americam
> central america, and parts of western europe has elimated all roaming
> services. Apparently it does not fit there 'business model.' Most of
> the indendent gateways such as elsacom(central & east europe), turkey,
> russia, australia, etc. still offer roaming for gsm customers. You
> could get a globalstar europe SIM to use in your phone. If you do this
> you can get unlimted service throughout the coverage area; this even
> includes free calls to premuim rate cell phone number, etc. the cost
> is 35 euros per month. BUt there is a problem the globalstar
> satellites are having serious communications problems as they have
> gotten old. Expect to wait a significant amount of time for a
> functioning satellite to fly overhead and than be cut off after a few
> minutes. If the financing does not fall through it will be sometime in
> 2010 when service starts returning to normal. The satellites will be
> launched over a period of years; so I would not expect uninterupted
> service before 2014 or so. There are many of us who watch this
> industry who do not expect to ever again see reliable globalstar
> service. I costs about $1 billion dollars to launch satellites for a
> company that earns about $25 million per year. You do the math.
>
> If you need a reliable sat phone that has good tariffs look intothuraya. the website iswww.thuraya.com. they have a prepaid plan that
> only cost $0.39 per minute for calls from europe to most of the world.
> You can also roam ontothurayafrom most gsm plans.

I've ditched the R290 Globalstar phone - no use me buying a Globalstar
SIM (now needed because the Vodafone roaming agreement has ended) if
you can't get a satellite signal half of the time!

As a replacement, I've invested in a Thuraya Hughes 7100 and I'm very
pleased with it. No problems getting a satellite signal, half the size
of the R290 and also acts as a GPS receiver. Best of all, Thuraya have
a roaming agreement with all the main UK GSM networks so I can use any
prepaid O2, Vodafone, Orange or T-mobile SIM in it - no need to bother
with a complicated and expensive satellite contract. Just what I
needed for an emergency phone. Thanks.