Iridium phones NZ$6000 and per minute prices NZ$5 per minute. Give or take a bit, according to NZ Herald, page C3, 13 July. That is about US$3000 and US$2.60. No mention of monthly charges, but I guess there will be some. Service to start in September according to the article.
It went on to say:
"In Australia, they will pay around $A90 [$107][Ed: that is about US$55] a month and a lower call charge, although, as Mr Herring [Ed: he's the marketing and and sales director of the local operating franchise, Iridium Pacific] points out, there will always be a differential between calls within a country and to other countries, reflecting interconnection and last-mile transmission costs."
Ed = me for those who wonder!
There was also a photo or Tim Herring, happily smiling and holding up to his ear an Iridium handset, which looks pretty good. It is big, like a cellphone from 5 years ago, but not too bad really. There was some description of Iridium, but those were the important bits.
Maurice |
