Telstra sims in Iridium sat phones

[fridayman]

I recently took out a $10/month Telstra post paid contract to use the sim in my iridium sat phone for emergencies. But it kept saying "invalid account". After a bit of research it turned out that international calling was not enabled on the account despite me checking and the sales person assuring me that it was. Telstra no longer automatically enable international calling on these cheap contracts. I had to pay a $300 "retainer" for them to switch it on. My monthly fee will come of this amount and I get any balance back when/if I close the account.

[JGM]

Hi Fridayman

That $300 rip off must be a new thing from Telstra.  I did exactly the same thing about 3-4 years ago and it only cost me the $10.

It pays to fire up the sat phone and test the sim still works every month or 2 (if your not a regular user).  Once when I tried it, it didn't work.  I had to ring Telstra and get it put back on.  When I asked why it didn't work, they dodged and ducked and weaved and wouldn't answer the question.  The Asian sounding girl I dealt with even tried to hide behind the old "don't understand the question" trick.

It wouldn't be good to be out bush and need it in an emergency and it didn't work.  The problem WAS a Telstra problem with the card, nothing wrong with the phone or the sat system.

Cheers
JGM

[fridayman]

They said that if the account was at least 6 months old I wouldn't have needed the deposit.

Good tip! I'll check mine once a week, and before each remote stretch.

[Crisp Image]

I had no problems last October when I opened up an account but I do have other accounts with them and selected direct debit as a payment option
regards
Crispy

[Wortho]

I had the same issue back in 2007 and had to pay a $300 (or was it $200) retainer to get global roaming activated on the $10 a month plan. I ended up going on a $30 plan with TR Telecom for 3 months and that included some air time and free in bound SMS for family to keep in touch.
I still have the phone without a SIM and its supposed to still work for emergencies, I have not tried it though so would not rely on it if going remote.
Cheers
Mark