Fortune. Calling Anywhere on Earth for Just $3,400
pathfinder.com
Yuppie Toys
Joel Dreyfuss
I finally got my hands on one of those satellite
phones that have been touted as the ultimate yuppie
toy. Okay, so the bulk of Iridium's handset (72
inches; one pound, four ounces) is a throwback to
the early days of cellular phones. But the thing does
allow me to make calls to and from just about
anywhere in the world.
Representatives from Motorola--which owns 19% of
Iridium--wince at the yuppie reference, but their own
promotional literature touts the Satellite phone
series as an absolute necessity for globetrotters.
Make that well-heeled globetrotters. The basic
phone runs about $3,400, and calls cost between
$1.50 and $6 a minute, depending on where you call.
In case you've missed the media blitz, the Iridium
system was completed last fall. Now 66 satellites
give the system coverage of the entire world,
ostensibly making the phrase "away from the
phone" obsolete. (It also offers worldwide paging
through the same system.)
Not surprisingly, given that technology is often
ahead of regulation, there are countries that haven't
signed on to Iridium--so if you go to Bali, say, you
won't be able to place a call. (The system is smart
enough to refuse calls from those locations.) But the
list of reluctant countries--available at
www.iridium.com--is shrinking daily.
Motorola's Satellite phones are easily adapted to
work with existing cell systems in the U.S. and
Europe. But the real fun is a satellite call.
I tried the system out in Manhattan. I extended the
antenna--a full eight inches, it looks like a kitchen
pipe--and called a colleague in California. Soon I was
connected. I got only his answering machine, but I
can't complain: It was a thrill to realize that I could
have been calling from the jungles of Rwanda.
Magazine Issue: March 1, 1999
Vol. 139, No. 4 |
