Summary of Iridium for Remote GPS Data Telemetry

Iridium is a satellite communication system that allows users to place voice and data calls from remote locations anyplace in the world using a handset about the size of a cordless home phone. Calls can be made to POTS (plain old telephone system), cell phones, or other Iridium phones.

Internet access is also available through Iridium’s ISP or other ISP’s, using an L-Band Transceiver (LBT) at the remote site in place of the Iridium phone. An LBT provides an asynchronous data port and is fully Hayes compatible. This means that it can be treated as a standard phone modem.

Iridium access is available to non-DoD government users (i.e., NSF) at reduced rates through a Department of Defense (DoD) contract. The DoD has many security issues and as a result, not all connection options are available to NSF users.

[See attached .pdf file for more.]