Aussie Beam Comms To Resell Global Satellite Push-To-Talk

Iridium PTT functions the same as terrestrial radio PTT services: every member
of the group hears a message when the speaker presses a button on their phone
to transmit – except that members of that group can be anywhere in the world.

Users of the service will need an Iridium satphone with PTT capability.

Although the commercial service is new, Iridium says the technology is
well-established. Raymond Tan, Iridium vice president and general manager,
Asia, told this writer in mid 2014: “We’ve had PTT for the last four years but
only for US defence forces. It is now a mature product so we have decided to
bring it to market.”

The heart of the services is the Iridium Command Centre, which gives
organisations the ability to define and manage the geographic coverage for each
talk group: coverage areas are created using a graphical map interface based on
Google Maps. – Stuart Corner

 Virginia-based Iridium operates a fleet of 66 satellites used for
worldwide voice and data communication from hand-held satellite phones and
other transceiver units.