GT&T offers satellite phone service
Stabroek News
November 30, 2003
Miners and other interior residents will soon find communicating with coastal communities and beyond easier once a US Iridium service is activated on January 1, 2004 by Guyana Telephone and Telegraph(GT&T).
Persons in remote parts of the globe, including those at sea and in the air, use the Iridium service to communicate with parties anywhere in the world via low flying satellites.
GT&T, following successfully negotiations with several US carriers, will offer the service from next year at rates charged in accordance with Public Utilities Commission(PUC)-approved rates to the USA.
Additionally there would be 'hubbing' charges attached to the US carriers' transmission of calls to the Iridium user, which the local telephone company hopes to minimise by routing calls through the carrier with the lowest price.
Initial indications, according to a GT&T advertisement, are that MCI was viewed as the cheapest option at a rate of US$1.40 for hubbing charges.
Iridium's website indicates that the service is accessible in any part of the globe through a constellation of 66 low earth orbiting (LEO) satellites operated by Boeing.
It is ideally suited for industrial applications such as heavy construction, defence/military, emergency services, maritime, mining, forestry, oil and gas and aviation.
GT&T's Public Relations Officer, Allison Parker says the telephone company is targeting users from remote communities. The service offers mobile and fixed units along with pagers. Among its advantages are continuous talk time, fewer outages and higher reliability.
The system is activated when a call, placed from an Iridium phone, is transmitted via satellite, bouncing from one to another until it reaches the nearest Iridium gateway to the customer being called.
The signal is then transmitted to a terrestrial wireless switch onto a wireless operator and then on to the customer, all at 2.4 kilobits per second.