Indeed, the popular satellite handset from Inmarsat will be discontinued in the near future.
IsatPhone Pro satellite phones will continue to work with the Inmarsat satellite array, but they will stop being supported by Inmarsat after a brief phasing out period. This means that firmware fixes will stop arriving at some point in the near future.
The good news? You can still use your current IsatPhone Pro without worrying that Inmarsat will stop service to it.
The bad news? Firmware updates may be slow to come (or non-existant), which can make doing data sessions more difficult going forward.
Is there anything you need to do? If you already have an IsatPhone Pro you can hang tight. Your phone will continue to function and you can continue to purchase airtime for it. As time goes by, it may be more and more difficult to get the satellite phone to connect to new computer equipment and devices, but for phone calls you should be able to use the IsatPhone Pro for a long time yet.
If you're looking for a satellite phone and were thinking of the IsatPhone Pro, we would probably steer you away from purchasing one now. There are other handheld options out there.
The first alternative that comes to mind is the IsatPhone 2. This is the natural successor to the IsatPhone Pro and works very similarly. If you are looking for voice connectivity with relatively good airtime rates, this is a good option.
Second would be an Iridium handheld satellite phone like the Iridium 9555 or Iridium Extreme. If you don't mind a bit more peripheral setup, you could go with the Iridium GO! Iridium airtime tends to be a bit more expensive than Inmarsat IsatPhone airtime, but not exponentially so. Iridium also has worldwide coverage, so you don't run into some of the signal issues Inmarsat users have in the far north and south.
Third is a Globalstar handheld like the GSP-1700. This is the least-expensive handheld satellite phone option on the market (currently at less than $500) and Globalstar airtime is very inexpensive.
We're here to help with your satellite communication needs. Request a free satellite communications consultation today to get a custom recommendation for satcomms just for you.
