We need to rent a satellite phone for our next trip to Africa, during which we will be in Zimbabwe, Mozambique and South Africa. What brand of phone and which rental company can you guys recommend?

Dale

From the research I've done so far, it looks like Iridium is the way to go where you'll be. Maybe others have some input on who to rent from.

I asked my PH if I could give him $100 or so to put some extra time on his phone to let me make a couple phone calls home to the kids rather than have to lug a rented phone around. An option to consider. Especially if you're close to your baggage weight limit.

I just purchased a INMARSAT which seem the best option from what I found.

purchase time from your ph and in RSA cell reception is outstanding. you may be able to get your cell or a free rental and buy time for RSA.


Mike

Best answer is to contact Andy Cool at Explorer Sat Phones

[EMAIL]http://www.explorersatellite.com/satellite_phones.htm[/EMAIL]

phone # 866 662 2665

he can set you up with what you neeed

Woodmnctry,

Not sure why your link didn't work. The formatting looks OK to me.

I think maybe the title has to be different from the URL???

Explorer Satellite Phones

Thanks for the link.

I bought an Iridium. It works great.

Cell service in the dark continent is a little bizarre in my opinion. Depending on where you are at, excellent cell service may be available, even in very remote areas. Often a slight chance in location can make a major difference.

In 2007, I was in TZ. We went through a very remote village. There was no power or running water yet everyone had a cell phone. I brought my razor phone the next day. It did not work. The day after I brought my Blackberry. I was probably 15 miles from the village. The BB worked great. I could even send e mails.

+1 for Andy Cool at Satellite Explorer. The entire kit to rent is small, light, and more than fair price. Used it last time in Zim and it worked just fine. SA, your cell in a lot of areas will work.

I just printed out a contract for Explorer and the rates are better than last year. $250 for a month (AC charger, International plug kit and HC battery, soft carrying case) and $1.60 PM in a 100min bundle. I will use one in Mozzmbique and use my cell in RSA. The min charge is the same for both. The ATT charge for Inter roaming is $5.95 for a month which gives you the $1.60 PM rate. I used the Iridium in the Zam Valley and had to work to get a good spot and did drop some calls.

I've used Andy Cool of Explorer as well and for the most part everything was fine...About 2 months after I returning the phone, however, I noticed a lot of strange credit card charges at Mexican restaurants, gas stations and Wal-Marts in south Florida; 108 in total. Apparently someone in his office got my credit card numbers and used a street method to "create" a working credit card with them. Hopefully you don't still have to fax him your credit card number in order to rent a phone.

Has anyone every rented from satellitephonestore.com? Rates seem to be a little better than Andy with Explorer.

for the last 500 minutes andy cool talked me into renting an inmarsat phone - i am glad that he did -it was excellent , not a single dropped call and as long as one had a clear view of the sky it was like talking on a landline - really

i liked it so much i am going to buy one -

andy has great customer service and knows what he is doing , we send most of our clients his way and all are very satisfied with how he does business and the quality and price of his rental units

Andy Cool is the man! I have rented Iridium phones from Andy for use in Tanzania and Namibia and the service and function have been all that I could have wanted.

Iridium.

I used satellitephone store last year and will do again next month.

quote:

Originally posted by Spring:
I've used Andy Cool of Explorer as well and for the most part everything was fine...About 2 months after I returning the phone, however, I noticed a lot of strange credit card charges at Mexican restaurants, gas stations and Wal-Marts in south Florida; 108 in total. Apparently someone in his office got my credit card numbers and used a street method to "create" a working credit card with them. Hopefully you don't still have to fax him your credit card number in order to rent a phone.

Anyone else had this problem with Andy's operation? This seems like kind of a big deal...

I highly recommend Andy Cool as well and have been dealing with Andy with great customer service. I have purchased 10 inmarsat phones and a BGan unit for my camps in Tanzania. My anti-poaching teams use the phones and they have worked great.

Gentlemen, thank you for all your recommendations!

I decided to go with an Iridium phone from Andy Cool at Satellite Explorer. He offers great rates for members of Accurate Reloading. I know that being an AR member has its benefits, but I never thought I'd be able to save money just for being a member!

I like Andy's prices, his service, and his knowledge of the business. He's providing the latest model of Iridium phones, the 9555. And to answer the concern about faxing CC information, there were no faxes involved in my transaction, so that's not a worry anymore.

Again, thanks to all of you.

Dale