Service in Africa?

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Thomas M. Goethe - 06 Aug 2004 01:56 GMT

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.

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Thomas M. Goethe

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Donald Newcomb - 06 Aug 2004 02:51 GMT

> Anyone have suggestions for Chad, Burundi, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Kenya,
> Botswana cellular service. It all appears to be GSM 900 MHz with a bit of
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
> 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.

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Donald Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

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Thomas M. Goethe - 06 Aug 2004 13:22 GMT

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.

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Thomas M. Goethe

> > Anyone have suggestions for Chad, Burundi, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Kenya,
> > Botswana cellular service. It all appears to be GSM 900 MHz with a bit of
[quoted text clipped - 22 lines]
>
> But my real suggestion is Iridium service.

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Donald Newcomb - 07 Aug 2004 00:24 GMT

> Donald,
>
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> 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.

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Donald Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

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Thomas M. Goethe - 07 Aug 2004 04:05 GMT

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.

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Thomas M. Goethe

> > Donald,
> >
[quoted text clipped - 17 lines]
>
> Good luck with Somalia.

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Donald Newcomb - 07 Aug 2004 13:50 GMT

> 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?

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Donald Newcomb
DRNewcomb (at) attglobal (dot) net

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Thomas M. Goethe - 07 Aug 2004 14:58 GMT

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

Signature

Thomas M. Goethe

> > Turns out that we do have an Iridium floating about, but I'm going to
> still
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
> Just curious. How do you get all that stuff through 3rd world customs
> without it being "confiscated" by sticky-fingered inspectors?

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