Service in Africa?

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

Anyone have suggestions for Chad, Burundi, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Kenya,
Botswana cellular service. It all appears to be GSM 900 MHz with a bit of
1800 in Somalia. I've got a photographer going there shortly and would
appreciate suggestions for the best providers, accuracy of coverage maps,
etc. I realize that this issue has raised in the past, but things are in
flux in African cellular and it would be nice to have current info. Thanks
in advance.


--
Thomas M. Goethe

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

Donald,

Thanks!! He will be taking a sat phone, but I also want him to have
local service wherever possible. Your suggestions are a great help.

The sat phone we are using is either an MSAT or an Immarsat. I can't
remember which (I wasn't involved in that particular buy) and was chosen for
the ability to do fast data. It is, needless to say, a bit bulky for general
use while wandering about and will mainly be used when communicating and
transmitting from fixed spots.

Thanks again.



--
Thomas M. Goethe


"Donald Newcomb" <DRNewcomb@attglobal.NOT.net> wrote in message
news:4112e876_4@news1.prserv.net...
>
> "Thomas M. Goethe" <goethe11@lycos.com> wrote in message
> news:2ng3akFhkibU1@uni-berlin.de...
> > Anyone have suggestions for Chad, Burundi, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Kenya,
> > Botswana cellular service. It all appears to be GSM 900 MHz with a bit
of
> > 1800 in Somalia. I've got a photographer going there shortly and would
> > appreciate suggestions for the best providers, accuracy of coverage
maps,
> > etc. I realize that this issue has raised in the past, but things are in
> > flux in African cellular and it would be nice to have current info.
Thanks
> > in advance.
>
> Thomas,
> Zimbabwe, Kenya and Botswana should not be big problems. They are well
> connected to most GSM carriers with good international roaming. Burundi
and
> Chad may be more problematic. Somalia is anyone's bet. You may also find
> that coverage is very limited in some of thos countries. Your best bet may
> be an Iridium satellite phone. Thruaya and Globalstar don't cover the
> southern end of Africa.
>
> I would recommed the following wrt GSM service:
> 1. Service with a well connected European carrier (e.g. Swiss or Vodafone
> UK).
> 2. HOP Mobile prepaid GSM as a back-up.
> 3. Try to get local prepaids from Telestial or Cellular Abroad. If you
have
> in-country correspondents, ask them to get you a local SIM. Some 3rd (or
> 4th) world countries are very short on mobile capacity and you have to pay
> bribes to get a SIM.
>
> But my real suggestion is Iridium service.
>
> --
> Donald Newcomb
> DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

Donald,

Thanks!! He used it during the last Gulf War, so he should be fine.
Turns out that we do have an Iridium floating about, but I'm going to still
suggest having a GSM phone with him as well.

I'm a bit concerned about Somalia and hope they bag that part of the
trip.


--
Thomas M. Goethe

"Donald Newcomb" <DRNewcomb@attglobal.NOT.net> wrote in message
news:411414c3_2@news1.prserv.net...
>
> "Thomas M. Goethe" <goethe11@lycos.com> wrote in message
> news:2nhbgbFra6qU1@uni-berlin.de...
> > Donald,
> >
> > Thanks!! He will be taking a sat phone, but I also want him to have
> > local service wherever possible. Your suggestions are a great help.
> >
> > The sat phone we are using is either an MSAT or an Immarsat. I can't
> > remember which (I wasn't involved in that particular buy) and was chosen
> for
> > the ability to do fast data. It is, needless to say, a bit bulky for
> general
> > use while wandering about and will mainly be used when communicating and
> > transmitting from fixed spots.
>
> I'm not familiar with MSAT, but Inmarsat will give very good service with
a
> briefcase-sized unit. He just has to have a clear view to the Atlantic
East
> or Indian Ocean satellite. Hope he will get training on the unit before
> going. And for any sort of data rate at all, those are the only options I
> know of that work all over Africa. Also, you might want to look at
> UUPLUS.com if you don't already have a satellite-optimized e-mail service.
>
> Good luck with Somalia.
>
> --
> Donald Newcomb
> DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net
>
>

Archived from groups: alt.cellular.gsm (More info?)

We've have indeed lost some stuff in that manner. This may be the
trickiest trip yet, though.


--
Thomas M. Goethe

"Donald Newcomb" <DRNewcomb@attglobal.NOT.net> wrote in message
news:4114d1c6_4@news1.prserv.net...
>
> "Thomas M. Goethe" <goethe11@lycos.com> wrote in message
> news:2niv7sF1erpvU1@uni-berlin.de...
> > Turns out that we do have an Iridium floating about, but I'm going to
> still
> > suggest having a GSM phone with him as well.
>
> Could it hurt?
>
> Just curious. How do you get all that stuff through 3rd world customs
> without it being "confiscated" by sticky-fingered inspectors?
>
> --
> Donald Newcomb
> DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net
>
>