Iridium has implemented a few satellite airtime changes this summer, notably for its popular Iridium Pilot service. We'll walk you through the changes and show you some of the nice new additions to Iridium satellite service.
Traditionally, the Value Plan was available at 32, 64, and 128 kbps and cost $39 a month.
Going forward, the Value Plan will only be available at 128 kbps and cost $49 a month. Overage on this plan is now $13.60 per MB.
This change affects both existing and new subscribers.
The good news with this plan is that now all Value Plan subscribers will have 128 kbps service for much less than it was before. (Previous monthly price for 128 kbps service was $69 a month).
Of course, at $13.60 per MB for overage, we would definitely recommend either a Combo Plan or a Custom Bundle for users who anticipate using more than about 2 MB of data per month.
Iridium GO! 75 - Includes 75 minutes of airtime per month to be used for either voice or data calls.
Iridium GO! 150 - Includes 75 minutes of airtime per month to be used for either voice or data calls. Also includes unlimited SMS.
Iridium GO! Unlimited - Includes unlimited data minutes and SMS per month and now 150 voice minutes.
None of these plans increased in price. Current subscribers will be able to immediately start using their minutes for either voice or data while they still have minutes available in their monthly allotments.
Note that the Iridium GO! 5 plan does not include voice minutes in the 5 minutes of airtime included per month. All voice calls on that plan are counted as overage at $1.17 per minute.
For users on postpaid accounts with phones like the Iridium Extreme, Iridium 9555, Iridium 9505a/9505, RedPort Aurora, and RST-100, there have been some similar changes for postpaid airtime plans. Traditionally there was only one plan available for Iridium worldwide postpaid airtime: the Basic Plan for $50.50 a month. While that plan still exists (and recently added 10 minutes per month free of charge), there are now two more postpaid options for Iridium satellite phone users:
Iridium Postpaid Worldwide: The 75 Plan - includes 75 minutes per month to be used for both voice and data use.
Iridium Postpaid Worldwide: The 150 Plan - includes 150 minutes per month to be used for both voice and data use. Also includes unlimited SMS.
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