Telefonia Satellitare Thuraya SG 2510 / 2520 satellite GSM phones

We all know sat phones are pretty much dead and gone by this point, but Telefonia Satellitare keeps on keepin' on with their dual-mode GSM satellite phones. We're hesitant to call the GSM aspect worthy of the title "worldphone" because it's tri-band, but the devices do feature GPS, GPRS, USB connections, Bluetooth, and a 1.3 megapixel camera; the smaller 2510 is the budget handset, but no word on what features it drops. Think your wireless bill is high right now though? Just wait until you get those $5 per minute sat roaming charges. Buy it to call your mom from the top of Everest, dude, but otherwise you might be better off with something unlocked and quad-band.

[Scoobydoo @ Dec 19th 2005 1:06AM]

1) Sat phones are nowhere near dead. Try telling that to the people in the Gulf coast or Iraq.

2) Thuraya call charges (like Iridium) are between $0.50 and $1.50. Very much in line with regular GSM roaming, and often even cheaper.

With the current state of affairs in the world sat phones are pretty much here to stay.

[Ryan gardner @ Dec 19th 2005 1:06AM]

I second what #1 said. Sat phones are certainly not dead. Even in the United States people use them frequently in camping and hiking situations. Just about every long whitewater rafting trip brings one. Heck, as an outdoor enthusiast I would love this phone - because renting a sat. phone can get pricey.

[mark @ Dec 19th 2005 1:06AM]

Yup, we ran an entire airlift operation with 4 satphones (one was a Nera Satcom base station for voice & data) last year after Hurricane Ivan until a T3 came back online and we switched to a packet8 ata and a UPS/genset lash-up.

[Sha66y @ Dec 19th 2005 1:06AM]

Sat phones dead?! In fact the opposite. Both terrestrial and maritime phone usage is climbing. Thuraya is an interesting choice, particularly in the middle east. The $5/min roaming charges is another falsehood:
http://www.satphonestore.com/servprod/Thuraya/thuraya_rates.htm

[Faust @ Dec 19th 2005 1:06AM]

I concur with all who say satellite phones are not dead. I live in Hawaii, and have been looking into getting a satellite phone for the next natural disaster to hit us and take out cell towers, land lines, and all other communication so when I'm floating in the ocean because our island sank, I'll be able to call one of my pals and get the latest score on the Patriots game.

[John Laur @ Dec 19th 2005 1:06AM]

Just becasue you dont see 100 companies pumping out thousands of products every day doesnt mean an industry is dead or dying. In fact it is quite the opposite. Handheld satellite phones are advancing remarkably. Look at the photos of those handsets you posted and then dig up a picture of some of the original Iridium phones (The ones where you had to haul around the fold-up briefcase antenna) and then tell me why the companies would have spent so much money developing the technology that far for a shrinking market. Granted, sat-phone contracts are seldom subsidized the way that cellular phone prices are (IE where you get a $600 retail phone for $99 with a 2 year contract), but prices for handsets and for calling are extremely reasonable now -- not that much more than high-end cell phones, and it's not uncommon for people who live in extremely rural areas to seriously consider these cell/satellite hybrids in lieu of regular cell phones. I see these phones all the time around New Mexico, for instance.

Iridium (the company as it orignally existed) was a few years premature and made bad management decisions and forecasts about their market, but despite their widely publicized and often referenced failure as a company, it has not reduced the demand for putting sattelite communications within the reach of consumers, and many companies have stepped in to fill the void.

I was, though, quite suprised to see every single comment here addressing the "satellite phones are ... dead and gone" point. You guys really need to get out of NYC once in a while.

[vivano @ Dec 19th 2005 1:06AM]

The cheaper SG-2510 will have (compared to SG-2520): 1) no GSM mode, only satellite, 2) no extendable memory (just 32MB), 3) worse display (just 65000 colors), 4) no Bluetooth and IR, 5) no camera.