 
SlickEnW
Premium
join:2003-01-21
Seattle, WA
clubs:
 ·Comcast
| Technical Difficulty Does anyone know if Satellite phones would be more difficult to configure/use.
If thats the case,I don't see very many rural individuals getting one...
Most folks i know who live out in the country get pissed off at the "fuzzies" on the TV screen >.>. | |
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fuzzies
@algx.net | fuzzies... if anything i would think the country folk would be the ones used to the fuzzies. | |
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Pashune
Inhaling at 410 KB per sec.
Premium
join:2006-04-14
Gautier, MS | Re: fuzzies... said by fuzzies :
if anything i would think the country folk would be the ones used to the fuzzies.
Likewise. | |
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| voipdabbler
join:2006-04-27
Kalispell, MT
| Yes, I'd say there may be server issues. Having moved to a rural area in the Rockies after living on the East coast for several decades, I think price will be the biggest issue for its adoption. Satellite phone communications are extremely expensive, given the cost of developing and launching the bird(s). Most rural areas have much lower median incomes since, unfortunately, the majority of jobs are in or near urban areas. (An even bigger percentage of rural jobs are minimum wage than in urban ares, which is saying a lot these days.) This will just be too pricey for most rural residents. (Plus the tax base isn't as robust as counties with large urban areas so don't expect first responders in rural areas to have the funds to subscribe to this type of service. You can't wring blood from a turnip and rural counties just don't have the tax base for this type of luxury. Those unfortunate counties with a large federal presence--say National Forest Service--have the added joy of a deadbeat property owner--Uncle Sam--who's exempted himself from paying state taxes by virtue of sovereign immunity--90 percent of my county is occupied by a national forest and the county doesn't collect any property tax on it--the remaining 10 percent of us are responsible for all the property taxes to run the county schools and provide all other services, including snow removal on roads, which the NFS has the benefit of using.) Believe it or not, radio communications between field responders and FD/PD HQs work just fine in my mountainous area, but then there are scattered FD stations with radios as well as a mobile command center. (All see plenty of use during fire season in the summer.) | |
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| voipdabbler
join:2006-04-27
Kalispell, MT
| Having moved to a rural area in the Rockies after living on the East coast for several decades, I think price will be the biggest issue for its adoption. Satellite phone communications are extremely expensive, given the cost of developing and launching the bird(s). Most rural areas have much lower median incomes since, unfortunately, the majority of jobs are in or near urban areas. (An even bigger percentage of rural jobs are minimum wage than in urban ares, which is saying a lot these days.) This will just be too pricey for most rural residents. (Plus the tax base isn't as robust as counties with large urban areas so don't expect first responders in rural areas to have the funds to subscribe to this type of service. You can't wring blood from a turnip and rural counties just don't have the tax base for this type of luxury. Those unfortunate counties with a large federal presence--say National Forest Service--have the added joy of a deadbeat property owner--Uncle Sam--who's exempted himself from paying any type of state taxes by virtue of sovereign immunity--90 percent of my county is occupied by a national forest and the county doesn't collect any property tax on it--the remaining 10 percent of us are responsible for all the property taxes to run the county schools and provide all other services, including snow removal on roads, which the NFS has the benefit of using.) Believe it or not, radio communications between field responders and FD/PD HQs work just fine in my mountainous area, but then there are field FD stations with radios as well as a mobile command center. (All see plenty of use during fire season in the summer.) | |
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iLive4Apple
Hybrid power
Premium
join:2006-07-13
Helena, AL | Alot of people out in the boonies have satellite TV | |
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openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA | What's Wrong With Iridium? Investment has already been made for the infrastructure, now they just need the customers. | |
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printscreen
join:2003-11-01
Juana Diaz, PR
 ·Coqui/PRTC
| Re: What's Wrong With I was asking the same thing myself. This seems like they are inventing the wheel when Iridium has been up almost since the beginning of time...  Well not quite but probably since almost 10 years ago. | |
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| | | openbox9
join:2004-01-26
Alexandria, VA
·AT&T Southeast
| Re: What's Wrong With said by scots  :The service was (and still is) way too expensive for most people. But the only real benefactor of this type of service will be emergency response teams, where cost typically isn't a concern. Besides, I don't see TerreStar's service plans being too awfully affordable considering the relatively large cost of launching satellites into orbit.said by scots :The phones are huge with biga$$ antennas, and as with any other type of satellite service they only work outdoors with a clear line of site to the sky. And what would you expect these new terminals to be like for TerreStar's network? | |
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| | | | voipdabbler
join:2006-04-27
Kalispell, MT
| Money is an issue for rural government budgets openbox,
Cost will be a factor in rural counties, especially those out West with a large federal presence that doesn't pay property or state income taxes on the property it holds or federal revenues generated by fees or services (yes, eminent domain means Uncle Sam can take, but don't expect him to give in return). I'm in a mountainous region in the northern Rockies and we have no problems with first responder communications via radio. This proposed solution isn't needed, is too expensive and putting yet more junk to orbit in space around us. | |
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Arctic nut
join:2006-11-26
Thief River Falls, MN | Yawn..... I can see rural folk lining up to pay $1+ per minute for air time. Didn't this idea already do a belly flop into bankruptcy a few years ago? | |
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Test99
Premium
join:2003-04-24
San Jose, CA
 ·InPhonex
·DSL EXTREME
| "fitted for TerreStar service"? existing cell phones or other devices can be fitted for TerreStar service The linked article skips lightly over a rather large technical problem: how would an existing cell phone be adapted for satellite service?
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50775@fwd.pulver.com | |
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capecoddah
join:2005-03-18
Yarmouth Port, MA
1 edit | "Developmental Sandbox" I wonder how that phrase will sit with people in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.
There were still houses with those 6-8 foot diameter satellite dishes around there last time I visited a few years ago. I seem to remember alot more pay phones than I see at home. | |
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Fox McCloud
Crazy like a fox.
join:2006-07-23
·Embarq
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
|  Great idea if cost is competitive/low...otherwise this sucks
I can't see this working, as service will be far to expensive, even for most of those who live in urban areas.
Otherwise, if a nationwide satellite phone service could be established that used the satellite network and the terrestrial network for 99% coverage (and the price was about the same same, or only $10-$20 more, per month), it could work....but,like I said, that's not going to happen. | |
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northeastvt
@charter.com | Northeast VT Northeastern VT is a great place to test this technology, though Unicel and VZW are working to close coverage gaps, there's still a LOT of dead around.
-A | |
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Subaru
1-3-2-4
Premium
join:2001-05-31
Greenwich, CT
clubs: | Re: Northeast VT agree some time back i drove for about 20 miles without service but it seems better then last time | |
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b10010011
Whats a Posting tag?
join:2004-09-07
Bellingham, WA
·Comcast Formerly ..
| Sounds like a soultion looking for a problem The only people who find these gaps "frustrating and in some cases they can be detrimental to a person’s ability to access emergency services", are city folks passing through.
How have people survived through the centuries without world wide cell phone coverage?   | |
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northeastvt
@charter.com
| 911? And how many people have gotten into car crashes in the middle of nowhere, and had to wait too long for help because they couldn't reach 911 without a cell phone? I'm a resident of Northeast VT and am very frustrated by this cell service, as are most rationally-minded people around here. | |
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Satellite Phone System to Make Rural Areas Safer
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