Inmarsat Satellite Phones
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Inmarsat Satellite Phones
1 results
Inmarsat IsatPhone 2 rental, and taking one to India
You need a phone that will still have power on day twelve, not just day two. The IsatPhone 2 holds 160 hours on standby and 8 hours of talk time, longer than anything else in the fleet, and it's the one network India will actually let you carry, provided the paperwork is right.
The date you choose is the day it arrives. Pick the day you want the equipment in your hands, not the day you leave. Your rental starts the day you receive it and ends the day we get it back, so leave yourself a day or two to test everything before you travel.
Available now
What you can rent
Every unit is pre-tested and activated before it leaves the warehouse, so it works the moment you switch it on. Most orders ship the same day, and you can collect in San Diego if that beats waiting on a courier.
The battery is the reason people pick it
Most trips are not one call, they are a week or two of the phone sitting in a bag, waiting. The IsatPhone 2 gives 8 hours of talk time and 160 hours of standby, the longest runtime of anything in the rental fleet. Leave it switched off between calls and a single charge can cover the whole trip without thinking about the charger again.
That matters most on the trips where a charger isn't guaranteed, a sailing passage, a remote survey, a week where the only power source is whatever's already in the bag. A satellite phone battery that holds its charge for months when switched off means the phone is ready on day one and still ready on day fourteen, without a single top-up in between.
Where it reaches
Inmarsat's satellites sit in geostationary orbit, and coverage is worldwide except the extreme polar regions. Check the IsatPhone coverage map for the exact edge of that reach. For a trip through the high Arctic or deep into the Southern Ocean, that gap matters, and Iridium is the network to rent instead; its satellites cross the poles where Inmarsat's cannot reach.
For everywhere else, from mid-latitude expeditions to open ocean crossings to a remote work site with no cell tower in range, the IsatPhone 2 covers it, and covers it with a battery that outlasts anything else on this site.
Inmarsat IsatPhone coverage. The gap at the top and bottom of the map is the reason a polar route needs Iridium instead.
Taking one to India
India is one of the strictest satellite phone markets in the world, and it only goes one way: Inmarsat is the sole network permitted, and only with a permit obtained before travel. Iridium, in any form, is not allowed at all, and there is no exception made at the border for a traveler who didn't know.
Arrive without the paperwork and the consequence is not a fine. It is imprisonment and confiscation of the phone. Start the permit process well before departure; it is not something to sort out at the airport, and it is not something this page can complete for you, only flag as the single most important step in the trip.
Once the permit is in hand, the IsatPhone 2 is the phone to bring. It is the only network India recognizes as legal for a visitor to carry, and that single fact should decide the rental before anything else on this page does. Everything else, the battery life, the ruggedness, is a bonus on top of being the phone that's actually allowed through customs.
Where people actually take it
The IsatPhone 2 goes out on trips that have one thing in common: nobody is coming to help with a signal problem. These are the three patterns it gets rented for most.
Expeditions and backcountry
Days out from the trailhead, where a check-in call is the only thing that tells anyone at home the trip is going to plan. Two weeks of standby on one charge is what makes this work.
Desert and overland routes
Long stretches with no towers and no traffic. The handset is IP65 rated against dust and water jets, which matters more here than anywhere else it gets taken.
Remote work sites
Survey crews, resource sites and construction well outside cell range, where the phone is shared kit rather than one person's. IK04 impact rating, and a spare battery in every kit.
Built for the field
The handset carries an IP65 rating against dust and water jets, and an IK04 rating against impact, so it survives a normal amount of getting knocked around, dropped on a boat deck, rained on, dragged through sand. A dedicated assistance button connects to the GEOS emergency response service when something goes wrong, no dialing, no looking up a number, just one button pressed under pressure.
Using it is the same as any satellite handset: step outside to an open view of the sky, extend the antenna fully, and keep it vertical for the call. Once it registers, dial country code, then area code, then the number, exactly as it would be dialed from any other phone.
Questions people ask before they book
Can I bring a satellite phone to India?
Only an Inmarsat phone, and only with a permit obtained before leaving. Iridium is not permitted in India under any circumstances, in any form. Arriving without the correct paperwork can mean imprisonment and confiscation of the device, so apply for the permit well ahead of the trip and bring the IsatPhone 2, not an Iridium handset.
How long does the battery actually last?
8 hours of talk time and 160 hours of standby, the longest of any phone in the rental fleet. Keep it switched off between calls and it will comfortably outlast a two-week trip on a single charge, which is exactly why it's the pick for a long expedition or a passage with no reliable power source.
Does the IsatPhone 2 work at the poles?
No, coverage is worldwide except the extreme polar regions. Inmarsat's satellites are geostationary, so a route through the far north or far south needs Iridium instead, since its satellites cross the poles directly rather than sitting over the equator the way Inmarsat's do.
Is the phone rugged enough for fieldwork?
Yes. It carries an IP65 rating against dust and water jets and an IK04 rating against impact, and it has a dedicated assistance button linked to the GEOS emergency response service for when something goes wrong and there's no time to look up a number.
Can I add a US number to the IsatPhone 2?
Yes, a US number can be added to the IsatPhone 2 as well as the Iridium handsets, so it can receive calls the way any other phone would. It is not available on push-to-talk rentals, which run on a talkgroup rather than a dialable number.
What's included with the rental?
A canvas bag, two fully charged batteries, a wall charger, international adapters, and a quick cheat-sheet guide, all pre-tested and activated before it ships, so there's nothing left to set up once it's in hand and the trip is ready to go.
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