From Richard Platt
You suggest that, by the time Iridium launched its satellite phones in 1998,
cellphone companies had already expanded to cover the majority of locations that
people want to phone from
(25 March, p 9).
This may be so in London, but beyond the M25 motorway cellphone coverage is
more patchy than the cellphone companies admit. Their “98 per cent of Britain
covered” actually means “98 per cent of homes covered”. This is very different
from 98 per cent of Britain’s land area.
At my home in Kent (which is hardly bandit country), cellphones only work out
of doors, and there are many areas where they are utterly useless. Strikes me
that a satellite phone might be rather useful.
Tunbridge Wells, Kent
