A
S MOBILE PHONES become more tech-
nologically advanced, we rely on them
to perform more and more tasks every
day, from making calls and sending texts, to read-
ing emails, surfing the web, uploading photos
and videos, managing our social media channels
and performing various work-related and recre-
ational tasks. But what happens when reception
drops out?
Whether you have mobile phone reception or
not depends on your location (proximity to a
mobile phone tower) or, in the case of data,
whether you’re within range of a mobile phone
tower or a Wi-Fi network.
We have more than our fair share of mobile
phone black spots in Australia, which is under-
standable when you consider what a vast conti-
nent we live on, with a relatively small population
mostly living in big cities on the east coast. If you
want to see for yourself where your mobile
phone won’t work, Google search ‘Mobile Black
Spot Programme’ then hit the link ‘National map
of reported mobile black spots’. You’ll be sur-
prised. It’s not just remote areas of Australia that
are affected; there are lots of black spots within a
50km radius of all capital cities.
The importance of a reliable communications
system can’t be understated when you’re travel-
ling, particularly in remote areas where you
might not see other people for a day, a week or
even longer. Fortunately there are plenty of
options when it comes to communications that
don’t rely on the patchy mobile phone network,
and many of them will work both here and over-
seas.
SATELLITE PHONE NETWORKS
As their name suggests, satellite phones (sat-
phones) use satellites that orbit the earth to
receive and transmit voice and data communica-
tions signals. Depending on the network, and
the access a satphone has to a clear view of the
sky, many satphones will operate from anywhere
on the planet, offering extremely reliable remote
area communications.
The original satellite phones that were devel-
oped in the late-1980s and early-1990s were so
big that you needed a trailer to haul their
...many satphones will
operatefromanywhereon
the planet, offering
extremely reliable remote
area communications.
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