Satellite Phones are No Longer Just for Recreation
Five years ago one of the primary purposes for renting or purchasing a satellite phone was for recreational use. Five years ago customers would rent or purchase a phone for their personal recreational use while on a cruise or other outdoor activity and still do today. GlobalCom rents hundreds of phones every month for every activity imaginable. Whether you are taking a cruise to St. Thomas or traveling to Antarctica GlobalCom has a hand held satellite phone that will provide voice and data communications no matter where you plan to travel. The use of a satellite phone for recreational use has increased 30% a year for the past five years. Consumers are becoming aware there is an easy to use hand held satellite phone that can be rented or purchased that will have voice and data from virtually everywhere.
In the last few years business and government agencies have increasingly found the need to purchase and rent satellite phones for purposes other than recreation. Emergency communication due to terrorist threats and the continued threats of hurricanes has created a tremendous demand for satellite phone communication. Cellular and landline communications can be and has been disrupted by power failure, damage from high wind and flooding caused hurricanes, or the overloading of the local phone system from an unusual surge of usage. I these cases when the local communication infrastructure is disrupted satellite phones become a vital communication device because a satellite phone is not affected by the local disruption in phone service. The movement of people and resources cannot be effectively arranged if there is no way to communicate. Satellite phones solve this issue by always being up and ready for service 24 hours a day 7 days a week. The devastating hurricanes from the last number of years have created tremendous demand for satellite phones from utility companies like Southern Company that choose to be proactive instead of reactive by purchase units and activate service before hurricane season comes. The utility companies are usually among the first responders to a devastation using all their resources to bring the power grid back on-line. This can only be accomplished with reliable communications that in many cases is with the use of satellite phone equipment.
The threat of damage from terrorist attacks is ever looming over our heads. Businesses and government agencies have increasingly become proactive by purchasing satellite phone equipment and service in the event their normal communications is disrupted through an attack. GlobalCom has seen in the last few years an increase in the number of satellite phones purchased by hospitals throughout the U.S. Recently GlobalCom has placed close to 200 fixed site Globalstar satellite phone units for one of the northern states for use in every hospital in the state. The proactive actions of the leaders of this state will insure emergency communications will be available in every hospital. Businesses have also been concerned with their communications being disrupted through a terrorist attack. All types of business, from banking to real-estate have purchased satellite phone equipment preparing in the event their communications is disputed. They cannot afford to have a disruption in communication between their various locations and suppliers. Satellite phone equipment has been their assurance the communication lines will always be available.
Another area where business and government agencies have recently utilized a new type satellite service is by using the Globalstar Quick Locate service. This service uses approved Globalstar simplex modems that track mobile assets which can include vehicles, trailers, generators and many other items that need to be tracked and accounted for. Out of the box the simplex satellite modem will send six GPS locations to the Globalstar constellation in a 24 hour period. The information on the GPS locations of the assets is then available to the customer through an Internet website. The customer can see the GPS locations plotted on a map and have access to this information 24/7. After hurricane Katrina equipment that normally would have been lost or misplaced after a hurricane can now be easily located. The Globalstar Quick Locate service has also been used by the U.S. Army located in Bagram, Afghanistan. They needed a way to track their fuel truck traveling in Afghanistan. The Globalstar quick locate service allowed them to easily track these fuel trucks and be informed if the fuel truck is delayed or disabled.
The demand for satellite phone and data service will be increasing every year for voice and data communications. The lower cost of satellite service has also allowed the service to be affordable to more people.
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