More than fifteen years
ago I worked in the mobile satellite services industry, helping to
develop a handheld satellite phone business. ICO Global
Communications, the company that I worked for never made it to
service launch; but part of my role was competitor intelligence, so I
had the opportunity to use an Iridium phone during a holiday in
Morocco. Then, the phone was huge and vaguely weapon-like, the
service was dreadful even on a beach with a huge sky, and I also
found cellular coverage wherever I went – even in the Atlas
Mountains.
Still, I was a bit
thrilled to have the chance to try out a Globalstar handheld last
week. The Pembrokeshire coastal path turns out to be much less well
covered by cellular signal in 2014 than the Atlas Mountains were in
1998, and I badly needed to keep in touch with my parents because my
father was unwell.
The Globalstar phone, a
GSP-1700, was much cuter. It still had the solid, rotatable aerial,
but extending it no longer looked like I was deploying a
ground-to-air missile. The phone itself was about the size and shape
of a mid-1990s cellular phone with a similar monochrome look and
feel. It was lighter, though, and with a pleasant hand-feel.
It was really easy to
use – I never looked at the manual or documentation – and worked
very well once I'd got used to the fact that it did take a little
longer to acquire a signal. It didn't work in the shadow of buildings
or under wet trees, but other than that it was reliable and
straightforward.
And the voice quality
was great – clear and with no perceptible delay or echo. Much
better than the voice quality that I got when I did occasionally pick
up cellular signal, and actually better than much of my experience
with cellular even in urban areas. The phone really did help me to
'connect with family even when my adventures took me out of
coverage', just like it says in the PR material.
Nice to know that the
mobile satellite service industry came right in the end, even without
the benefit of my contribution.
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