I know that this has limited appeal but for remote travellers this is a good deal.
Cheapest in AUS I found was $700.00.
This one worked out at $520.00 Aus including delivery using 28 deg mastercard.
Thuraya XT-LITE Satellite Phone NZD $499 + Shipping (~$520 AUD Delivered) @ Expert Infotech
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neg, for what your lack of understanding of the purpose of a sat phone. In remote areas it can save a life !
Why neg Enjj0y? Just because you are using this sat phone in remote area and can save a life, does not mean you shouldn't care about the call plan. This is OzBargain you do understand?
I do understand it is ozbargain but the deal is for the phone only and as I said limited appeal ie for those who travel in the outback away from mobile coverage areas, but what the heck neg all you like I am just happy that I may save someone some money.
people with these types of devices probabaly aren’t sim sluts chasing the $2 sim specials.
if you need one of these you buy it and the associated cost of a plan, and if you need to make calls you probabaly are in the situation where options are limited.
heck we have people complaining about optus vs telstra coverage …..this is the next level of coverage…. telstra and optus reckon they cover 98% of the population …. but not area.
Exactly. Some people think they know the price of everything but in reality know the value of nothing and still complain if they can't save a couple of bucks. Whiners should just get a better job.
Depends how much you value your life
Get an ePirb. That'll really save your life when you're lost.
They aren't ideal, unless you're a boat. A PLB would be more suitable if you're a person. ;)
Would you actually need a sim to call emergency services? I expect it would be a free call anyway.
Not on a sat phone. You need a SIM.
Hmm, not sure if things have changed.
This XT manual says:
Emergency calls are permitted when there is no SIM card in the phone, when the SIM card in the phone is not valid, or when you have a valid SIM card and are on roaming but is not possible with the selected service provider.
Meanwhile, this XT manual says:
The soft key SOS is available even:
● When the SIM card in your Thuraya XT is not valid.
● When you have a valid SIM card but no roaming with the selected service provider is possible
When you're stranded in the middle of nowhere without any telco reception, you'll pay any amount to use one.
Yip, it’s called screw the needy. No better example than this
Not so much about screwing the needy, more about making the business of launching and operating satellites viable.
Any pre paid satellite service providers arround?
Yes Pivotel. For my use which is only a couple of remote outback trips a year Pivotal have a casual plan that can be activated when needed.
Nice, will have to look into it :)
Optus have a similar casual plan for $15pm - but without a connection fee
https://www.optus.com.au/content/dam/optus/documents/enterpr…
Not similar at all. Optus give you an overseas number. This means it is not a local mobile call from an Australian mobile to the sat phone. Many people have a plan that gives free calls to local mobiles which also includes the Pivotal sat service.
Thuraya provide prepaid along with the phones too.
Yes, what are the call charges? Do I need a NASA sim?
Depends on your provider. This is just the phone, you need your own SIM with a satellite provider.
does this phone comes with the snake game? lol
probably not QC3 either but preddy good that it does satellite and gsm …these things have come along way since i looked at them about 6 years ago…..
Pivotel Thuraya call plans note that calls to the phone from mobiles are charged a standard mobile rates http://www.pivotel.com.au/thuraya-plans.php
So this will let me post on OzBargain from the middle of the Simpson desert?
Yep.
Yes at the bargain price of $5mb
That's ok, I don't post that much anyway…
B28? 🙃
NFC, Dual SIM, quick charging, IP65 , gorilla glass and list goes on..
Brah. I was only looking for the touch screen.
this is better, this is band satellite ….even better rural coverage than band 28 ….. for those places that still only take cash and nfc and credit cards don’t work ……”the Yabba”.
some people say satellites do not exist and the earth is flat. I didn't believe it at first, but after watching youtube videos about flat earth, I am convinced.
TRUTH.
The Earth is flat, Santa is real, Wade Wilson was better used in the Wolverine movie, and Last Jedi is a masterpiece of a film.
Those feminazis ruined the Star Wars.
I cant see any Aussie shipping options? am I missing something? cheers.
Depends where you are in Australia .. some locations this will work fine .. others wont have the sat coverage you need.
yeh, that's not what I asked sorry… I was talking about shipping… It seems it cant be shipped to Australia, the only country on the shipping drop down box is NZ, so you cant select an Aussie address for shipping..
not neggling the deal, but i think i'd rather spend $888 and buy a satsleeve… yes data is expensive but there are times when you might really need it, this thing seems no good to download a PDF or open an email??
DAMN it, just ordered a second hand 100 yo (well it seems like it) global star Motorola gsp 1800… Guess I only paid 200 for it though.. and I did want the casual 25 plan…
Anyone made an order?
How much did shipping cost?
Will do,
thanks for your reply :)Easy paid thru paypal
Just ordered one. Shipping is NZD$70 now, but I mentioned I knew someone who paid $50 (thanks WV1!) and they said they'll do $50 FedEx shipping as a referral sale.
With Paypal's conversion, NZD$549 would have been $537.44. I paid directly with my credit card (no int txn fees) and it cost $508.49 (according to the Pending screen on my card online statement). Their email mentioned a 2% surcharge but it looks like they didn't charge it.
For airtime, I'm looking at Thuraya's Backup Prepaid SIM as it's really just for backup. The sim has a 5-year validity and costs US$139 with 10 units credit, US$152 with 30 units credit. It will come with a satellite number as opposed to Pivotel's local number, so no good if you're expecting people to call you, although anyone can send you an SMS for free. It costs 0.5 units to send an SMS (US$0.53) from your phone.
20 units cost US$21, so each unit costs US$1.05.
Calls with the backup SIM do cost more at 2.5 units (US$2.62) per minute as opposed to 1.5 units (US$1.58) per minute for a standard 12-month SIM.
A further 5 year renewal is 120 units (US$127) - that works out to US$2.12/month for access to the network.
I got the Thuraya Satellite Phone NOVA SIM with 20 Units (22 Minutes) 2 year validity from Amazon AU.
Very happy and works good :)
Now just to find a waterproof case or something for the sat phone
You know what, for some reason I just assumed that the NOVA sim would only work in NOVA countries, so I skipped over the parts in the call cost pages that mentioned that NOVA sims will work everywhere, it'll just cost more than a standard SIM.
The NOVA sim is a much better way to run a backup phone as it only costs 10 credits (US$10.50) to renew it for another 2 years. I'm returning my backup SIM and getting a NOVA sim instead.
The phone ended up costing $512 after it cleared on my credit card.
Yea, I was also confused and had to ask a friend on whirlpool if it worked in Aus and what the difference was between them. He also said Aus government does not like them being sold here as they can not spy on us listen into our phone calls lol.
Only problem I had was 1 time it took 15min to get network connection. Could be some kind of inteference in city Melb. Guess its not good to use it in city areas
He also said Aus government does not like them being sold here as they can not spy on us listen into our phone calls lol.
Well… they could just ask the NSA. :)
Only problem I had was 1 time it took 15min to get network connection. Could be some kind of inteference in city Melb. Guess its not good to use it in city areas
Was it the first time? Maybe it was still getting a GPS fix.
The phone arrived today. Thuraya really embraced the "lite" name - the box it came it felt cheaper than a $40 prepaid phone. :)
The phone itself is much smaller than the iSatPhone Pro. The interface is just as janky though. Build quality is similar - plasticky. They're definitely simply functional phones!
Its good that it has a few extra features llike gps way point memory. Cant remember what else there was.
Time to find a waterproof case or pouch thingy and maybe an extra spare battery lol.
And other call charges from providers?