How capable are the satellite communication devices (Iridium, Inmarsat, etc) in a disaster? Do the satellites get overloaded easily?
They aren't that expensive any more, you can get a phone for around $500 and basic plan for $50/month.
Or you can get a satellite communicator (mostly meant for hiking in the backcountry) that can only send an SOS message or text message for ~$300 for the device and as little as $12/month for a basic plan with a few SMS's included.
Always on party line PTT is a very different thing from PSTN voice calling, although some satellite networks do offer the former. PTT is indispensable in a real-time group coordination scenario, but can’t support in depth conversations or (usually) long distances. You want both.
It’s also basically impossible to receive a call on a handheld sat phone unless you schedule a time to be pointing the antenna at the sky.
They aren't that expensive any more, you can get a phone for around $500 and basic plan for $50/month.
Or you can get a satellite communicator (mostly meant for hiking in the backcountry) that can only send an SOS message or text message for ~$300 for the device and as little as $12/month for a basic plan with a few SMS's included.