AT&T To Offer Terrestar Satellite Phone

AT&T and Terrestar announced more information this week about their hybrid cellular/satellite handset launching early next year. The two companies plan to release a Windows Mobile 3G phone called the Terrestar Genus that will be aimed, at least initially, at business and government users. The handset will use AT&T's network for traditional cell phone service, and switch to Terrestar's satellite phone service when out of range of a cellular signal. The companies plan to demonstrate the phone, which is smaller and more feature-rich than previous satellite devices, at a conference in Denver next week.

AT&T said that its monthly invoice will include the customer's cellular voice and data service charges, the satellite network access subscription feature charge and the satellite voice and data roaming charges.

The phone will use GSM/EDGE/WCDMA/HSDPA. In conjunction with Windows Mobile, users will have 100 Mbytes of memory available, with microSD support for additional storage. Other features include Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and vanilla GPS.

Talk time will be up to 5 hours using GSM, however only 1.3 hours via satellite.

Coverage for the hybrid cellular/satellite service will include the continental United States, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and U.S. territorial waters. No pricing has been announced, but Genus service will not be cheap. When you buy the Genus, AT&T will require you to sign up for AT&T data and voice service (just like the iPhone), as well as a monthly satellite access feature. On top of that, additional roaming charges will apply when using the satellite service.

(October 1, 2009)

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