A Scottish born American inventor Alexander Graham Bell 1847-1922 A.D. - invented the telephone in the year 1876. The telephone underwent many more innovations and today we see a bewildering variety, in very many sizes and shapes flooding the markets. There has been a giant leap in the telecommunications area and today it is possible to send voice, data, pictures, video, stills etc to distant lands at unimaginable speeds in analog and digital formats. Such information can also be transmitted through fibreoptic cable in the form of light waves. Also it is possible to send such information in the form of radio-waves.

A Satellite phone therefore is a distinctive instrument, which has been devised to enable voice and other data transmission possible through a satellite; in the form of radio waves! There are very many variations of landline telephones and even more variations in cellular phones. Then, what is the need for satellite phone?

The clarity in landline if the voice or data is sent in the analog format, is susceptible to noise interferences. Cell phones depend on cell towers and cell exchanges. If you have to talk to someone 1000 kilometers away in all probability you may have to cross many cells to reach the receiver. Again, if the receiver happens to be in the so-called fringe areas, the reception may not be to your satisfaction.

Since satellite telephones do not need the existence of cell-towers or cell sites, they go out of the ambit of any geographical dependency and, therefore, it becomes possible to have a dependable and regular communication. They can be used from any place on the globe. Governments and Militaries of many countries are using satellite phones for many years. Only over the last couple of years, satellite phone are being used for commercial and personal use. They can be very handy if you go into a very remote area a desert or a jungle.