Spacefon, the premier GSM network in Ghana, has, in partnership with Thuraya Satellite Telecommunication Company, introduced a new satellite phone that extends its coverage across the length and breadth of the country and beyond.

The system combines satellite technology, Global Systems for Mobile communication (GSM) standard and Global Positioning Systems (GPS) to bring to subscribers easy mobility and seamless service beyond land-based telecommunications systems.

With Thuraya, your phone can switch from GSM to satellite and vice versa. This means that if you are already hooked onto the Spacefon network, your Thuraya phone will automatically change to satellite mode once outside Spacefon’s coverage area thereby ensuring uninterrupted connectivity.

Thuraya’s coverage spans 99 countries in Europe, North and Central Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and the Indian subcontinent, within which area customers can call to, and receive calls from, anywhere in the world. As a standard feature, the GPS in Thuraya’s hand-held phones give the user clear navigational and safety benefits in addition to their valuable application for fleet management and rescue and relief operations.

Already, Scancom’s new service is a hit especially within the mining community in the country. An official of a leading mining company had this to say: “We are now able to keep in touch with all our operational bases across the sub-region, thanks to Spacefon”.

Yet another distinct advantage of Thuraya over other satellite communication systems is a docking unit, which allows the usage of the phone in an indoor environment such as the home or office.

Subscribers still enjoy all the enhanced services typical of GSM networks, such as voice, fax, data, short messaging and CLIP. Others include CLIR, call forwarding, call waiting and call holding. The rest are call barring, call transfer and conference calling.