Sat phone rental recommendations

[Robert M. Gary]

Seeing that Sat phone rentals are getting cheaper and cheaper it
almost doesn't make sense to fly out of the country (especially to
remote areas) without one. I'm going on a trip to central American in
a couple of weeks and am wondering if anyone can recommend a provider.
I will likely not use the phone but just have it for emergencies.

[romeomike]

Robert M. Gary wrote:
> Seeing that Sat phone rentals are getting cheaper and cheaper it
> almost doesn't make sense to fly out of the country (especially to
> remote areas) without one. I'm going on a trip to central American in
> a couple of weeks and am wondering if anyone can recommend a provider.
> I will likely not use the phone but just have it for emergencies.

I use World Communications Center in Chandler, AZ. Don't need to live
nearby. Tel. 800-211-2575

[Robert M. Gary]

On Feb 24, 8:22*am, romeomike > wrote:
> Robert M. Gary wrote:
> > Seeing that Sat phone rentals are getting cheaper and cheaper it
> > almost doesn't make sense to fly out of the country (especially to
> > remote areas) without one. I'm going on a trip to central American in
> > a couple of weeks and am wondering if anyone can recomamend a provider.
> > I will likely not use the phone but just have it for emergencies.
>
> I use World Communications Center in Chandler, AZ. Don't need to live
> nearby. Tel. 800-211-2575

The rental price seems reasonable but they want $50 to mail it.

-Robert

[romeomike]

Robert M. Gary wrote:

>
> The rental price seems reasonable but they want $50 to mail it.
>
> -Robert

Yeah, seems like a lot. They probably ship overnight, insured, signature
required and so on. I have my own phone and just have a monthly plan
with them, so am not involved in the shipping part. Good Luck.

[Hamish Reid]

In article
>,
"Robert M. Gary" > wrote:

> Seeing that Sat phone rentals are getting cheaper and cheaper it
> almost doesn't make sense to fly out of the country (especially to
> remote areas) without one. I'm going on a trip to central American in
> a couple of weeks and am wondering if anyone can recommend a provider.
> I will likely not use the phone but just have it for emergencies.

I've successfully used Outfitter Satellite phones in Nashville
(http://www.outfittersatellite.com/) -- I doubt that they're the
cheapest, but they've been very reliable and helpful. Like you, I've
just needed an emergency phone for a week or two (usually in the remote
deserts here in California and Nevada), and they did the job perfectly...

Hamish

[Cubdriver]

On Sat, 23 Feb 2008 23:06:16 -0800 (PST), "Robert M. Gary"
> wrote:

>I'm going on a trip to central American in
>a couple of weeks and am wondering if anyone can recommend a provider.
>I will likely not use the phone but just have it for emergencies.

The sailboat Seal has an Iridium phone but almost never uses it for
voice communication for the obvious reason: the minutes are a couple
or three bucks each. Instead, it's the email provider through
UUplus.com (a cost separate from that of the minutes). If the guy on
the other end sends plain text only, a day's email outgoing and
incoming can be downloaded in under a minute.

Overall, we buy about 750 minutes a year. The provider is Satellite
Phones Direct, though I'm not sure that they actually rent phones. We
bought ours.

Service is almost infallible. We used to use it for text messaging
also, but that proved not so reliable, so we're back to straight
email.


Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941-1942
new from HarperCollins www.FlyingTigersBook.com