Fears that the millennium bug will disrupt telephone services over the new year have resulted in a worldwide shortage of satellite phones.

Big banks and other multinational organisations have snapped up supplies in a bid to prevent their executives from being cut off at the vital moment.

The phones, about the size of a laptop personal computer and capable of being packed into a briefcase, are more usually popular with the armed forces, journalists and explorers.

They send and receive signals from geostationary satellites thousands of kilometres above the Earth's surface.

At #2,000 sterling (euro 3,190) a set they are expensive, but can be relied on when other means of communication are unavailable.

Over the past six months, however, banks, airlines and utilities, among others, have been ordering the phones by the hundred.

Mr Andrew Marriott, national sales manager for Cell Hire, an international service provider with offices in the US and Europe, said: "I have never, ever run out of a satellite phone before. The manufacturers cannot keep up with demand."

- (Financial Times Service)

-- Risteard Mac Thomais (uachtaran@ireland.com), December 10, 1999

Answers

these are the ones that can only be used outdoors right? my agency was testing them the other day. what interests me is that according to a recent report, satellite failures could be a very real possibility--so what happens to these fancy communications systems IF AND WHEN the satellites go down?

-- tt (cuddluppy@nowhere.com), December 10, 1999.

Gee whiz, they're making $3000 purchases for a problem that's not going to happen? Clearly banks and "other multinational organisations" are staffed by wacko paranoid over-reactionary doomers... I bet some of those people are even going buy that delusional garbage about stocking a couple of days extra food.

:(

-- Servant (public_service@yahoo.com), December 10, 1999.

At those prices, you are talking bout Trimble phones. these CAN be used inside only if they can "see" a GPS satelite out the window....

chuck

(IIRC these are INMARSAT (-C or perhaps -D) Phones)

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), December 10, 1999.

Wheeeeeee Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

-- Susan Barrett (sue59@bellsouth.net), December 10, 1999.

long live iridium world

-- j whit (jwhit10238@aol.com), December 10, 1999.