"satellite phones and cell phones in wartime" Topic

I was wondering just how satellite phones and cell phones work in places like Iraq. There are stories about how some Colonel used his cell phone to call back to stateside and such. Was he on an Iraqi cell network? Would my cell phone from Verizon work in Iraq? Could I use a satellite phone and call my wife's local pizza delivery place say in Denver while I'm in Iraq and order her a pizza?

Back in the day when I was in the Middle East, I had to use a regular telephone line and go through a base operator who then connected me to the nearest military base in the States who then connected me to the number I was calling.

Times have changed and I'm completely out of touch with how these things work.

Can you hear me now?

Assuming the cell infrastructure is in place – and that you have a phone/wireless plan that works there, yes a cell in Iraq or Afghanistan or anywhere else will work just fine. I'm not sure how the dialing works – country codes and all that but otherwise it is just a phone.

Cells will obviously be less useful because they rely on intact towers. Sat phones require a LOS to the satellite so won't work inside (or didn't used to – they may do so these days).

So you could order the pizza but I'm guessing there might be a roaming charge!

You probably can use it if there is any network available. Roaming charges might be high though.

And this reminds me of stories of patrols giving away their location thanks to the phone ringing. Guess one can locate a nearby cellphone with some equipment too.

From what I have heard the cell network in Iraq is actually better then the landlines.

There is one thing to be kept in mind though… many armies prohibt their soldiers from using cell phones in warzones for numerous reasons. For one they can be pinpointed easily (giving away a soldiers and his units position and movements), they can easily be tapped into (making it possible for the enemy to gather sensitive info if soldiers say too much) and they can not be cencored (leading to PR problems back home). I am not sure if the US forces do it that way too though.
Sat phones eliminate the former two, while the later is still a problem… assuming the soldier can actually afford paying the fares!

Cheers,

Burkhard

Back in the late 80s, the US Army began fielding their own tactical mobile cell phone system. I assume at least the 2d generation of the system is in use in Iraq and Afgahnistan. Every commander and higher level staff officer was scheduled to have one in their HMMVEE and command post. The system was connected via satelite to the US civilian phone system. When the 2ID got them in Korea in '91, I tested mine by calling my parents in PA. It worked fine.

It depends on the cellular service infrastructure. If it's GSM and your phone is GSM (and your provider has a roaming agreement with the country's network) then you could make a call (albeit at high rates). If the GSM phone is unlocked then you could pop in local SIM card and try to make an international call that way (also possibly expensive). If you have a CDMA phone then you're out of luck as only the US and very few other countries use that technology. If you have a satellite phone you could call easily as it runs off… tada… satellites! As long as you can get line of sight on a satellite you'd be able to make a call (also very expensive though).

Forest

Sat Phones are expensive so you rarely see anyone over here using them(other than official uses, that is), they are more common with the locals but with the 3 Major networks that have coverage within Iraq, they tend to be too expensive for wide spread usage.

Yes, if I owned a local Iraqi cellphone, I could call back to the States. I have sent my wife a surprise text message from a friend's phone before. The networks work with prepaid cards that run from $10-$30 dollars each and I'm not sure what the cost per minute is. I think a $30 USD card is good for maybe an hour if you are calling back to the States.

We are restricted somewhat on what can be discussed on an open line, just like what can be discussed outside a secure facility. Does that stop people from telling their families movement dates and other information that is supposed to be close hold? No. The cell usage is too widespread to be completely blacked out among the soldiers, but in the event of a serious incident, they will black out our other forms of communication, but that's pretty rare and usually to avoid a family member being informed of a loved one's death before it's gone through normal Military channels.

For the most part even US Networks that offer "global" plans do not function in Iraq. You could possibly use your phone with a SIM card from one of the Iraq networks in it, but there is a number you call or a key combination to unlock the phone for use on another network, but I don't remember what it is. It's probably just easier to buy a local network cell phone.

Hope that helps.

I nI raq you have two major cell phone networks. Iraqna and asia net. They are both prepaid and use GSM phones. The service is patchy at best and when compass call is around it kills everything. The Iraqis are fond of LRCTs which are very long range cordless telephones with a range of about 7-8 km. so local shopping and day to fday stuff is done with thier house phone. I had an iraqna phone over their and we could call each other pretty easy but the signal was patchy. I used a call back number to call the states which is: i would call a 1800 number let ring 3 times and hang up. then the number would call me (since incoming calls are free ) and i would input my home number into it and pay a fraction of the cost of the direct dial cell charges. It is getting better but most timers you can get a phone off someone rotating back for $20-40 easy.
hope this helps
CW

I take the bus to Ukraine occasionally (from the UK). Always amusing to watch the Poles (who are never short of a good tip) switching SIM cards in their phones every time they cross a border.

Thanks for the feedback. I learned a lot (as usual on TMP) by just asking the right crowd.

Bear in mind that some insurgent groups have been known to trace cell phone calls from Coalition troops and leave threatening messages back home.

I was in Baghdad in ought-six. DOD folks and most Iraqis I worked with used IRAQNA. Unfortunately, most DOS folks used MCI – no easy way to talk between the two. I regularly carried both so that I could talk with Iraqis on IRAQNA, DOS folks on MCI, and DOD folks via more secure comms. We also had Voice over IP (VOIP) access for cheap morale calls home ($0.03 per minute voice or $0.07 USD Skype video). More than once I surprised a Skype caller being shown the goods from their sweetheart back home ;-)

Lost Pict

…I thought the internet side of Skype was free…? (I know they charge for connections to landlines)