Upcoming satellite phones look rather normal

Sascha Segan took a gander at a new working reference handset from Elektrobit. At first glance it might look like your average Windows Mobile phone (and mostly it is) but it also happens to have a satellite receiver inside. When paired to one of the upcoming integrated satellite-terrestrial phone networks going online next year, this otherwise normal little device could get voice and data almost anywhere in North America.

I hadn't heard about the new sat-phone networks going up to compete with Inmarsat, but at least two are putting together a new network plan: ICO and TerreStar. Their systems work on Wi-Fi when available, then fail over to 3G, then finally to satellite when nothing else is available. TerreStar is launching a new satellite to cover North America:

The company's first satellite, TerreStar-I, currently under construction by Space Systems/Loral, will be the world's largest and most powerful commercial satellite ever deployed. With an antenna almost 60 feet across, and up to 500 dynamically-configurable spot beams, TerreStar-I will surpass current satellites in terms of signal sensitivity and the number of spot beams it can generate.

Price will remain the gating factor, I'm sure, but I'd love to see some competition in the space. The rates from Inmarsat are just too expensive for anything but business or emergency use.

CTIA Fall: Elektrobit's Windows Mobile Satellite Phone [Gearlog]