70% off an Iridium phone - better than a mobile?
 

With sterling at $1.84 it's a good time to be buying an Iridium phone in the US - especially if you can avoid customs duty by getting a friend to hand carry it back for you. www.satellitediscountstore.com has the Motorola 9505 for $695 used (£386) or $1190 new (£646). A new one in the UK is around £1300 inc. VAT.

Prepaid airtime is also cheaper in the US too. All in all this may be a cheaper solution than roaming charges with GSM for some people. And it works everywhere on the planet.