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A comment on Senators issued satellite phones, offered demos on upgraded security devices. Parent comment

Re:Senators issued satellite phones, offered demos on upgrad... by perardi on Saturday May 27, 2023 @07:18PM (#36099396)
Well, you better be ready to pay up. Which is the inherent problem here.

Creating a robust, well-tested emergency satellite comms system that nobody uses day to day costs a lot of money to develop and maintain…and nobody wants to pay for that.

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Re:Senators issued satellite phones, offered demos on upgrad... by toomuchtodo on Saturday May 27, 2023 @09:08PM (#36100123)
A 300 min annual prepaid plan with Iridium, retail rate, is ~$1400/year. Assuming no government discounts, you're looking at probably less than $2M-$3M in phone costs for 535 members of Congress and first year service, with <$2M/year service upkeep.

I assume it would be relatively straightforward to onboard another part of government assuming existing awards, based on my experience with US government contracting.

https://www.usaspending.gov/recipient/586ca912-a43c-d9a3-fbd...

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