Will a satellite phone work at commercial altitudes?

cost and functionality aside, have you flown commercially lately? did you know if you were on course? or not? how? if you're in the clouds it's very difficult to tell where you are without access to the aircraft's navigation instruments.

http://www.globalcomsatphone.com/satellite/phone_rentals_iridium.html

First, let me answer the question.. yes, if the satellite phone is in the range of the satellite coverage and have enough strength to penetrate the plane metal.. In the movie 'Air force one', the president played by Harrison Ford contacted his staff using a mobile satellite phone.. But I doubt that would work in real life.. because anyone who use personal satellite phones could confirm this.. coverage and signal acquisition are the biggest obstacles to satellite phones.. the user often need to go out of the house and stay away from trees and buildings.. even worse, may need to wait in the open until the satellite gets into the right position (its less common now, but still happening.. see 'Lone survivor' by Mark Wahlberg).. Some planes, like the Malaysian flight MH370, do have in-flight coms for the passengers.. the remote control on the seat can be used to make calls via satellite (just like regular Sat phones) after swiping it with a credit card.. and accepting the charges.. But passengers' communication does not have the priority of the cockpit communications.. Just like in-flight entertainment system, the in-flight passengers' communication would be the first to be cut off in case of an electrical malfunction.. Most of the systems onboard a plane give the priority to the cockpit, and to the critical areas around the ship.. passengers communication is not critical enough.. Modern planes like MH370 flight maintain communications by both Radio and satellite signals to the cockpit, and it is a real mystery that a plane loses all contacts like that.. (I wouldn't dare to speculate at this point).. But overall, personal Satellite phones are much less reliable than regular mobile phones.. which brings me to the next point; do you know anyone who own and use satellite phones?.. I only know one person who used one, and the phone was a loaner from the government.. But generally speaking, most people do not own satellite phones or know someone who uses one.. Mobile phones have been proven to interfere with plane instruments.. go to youtube.com and search for "Aircrash investigations, lost in translation", somewhere in 28 minutes and 19 seconds, a mobile phone signal have triggered a false alarm of a onboard fire and forced the plane to undergo an emergency landing (the link is at youtube.com/watch?v=eiQLhr1w41I ).. While mobile phones signals have never been linked to crashing a plane, the idea that a mobile phone can influence plane instruments is enough reason for most airliners to ban the use of personal communication devices onboard its planes.. Malaysian airlines MAS, is one of those airliners who have strict rules against activating any electronic devices brought by the passengers.. the MAS cabin crew did make a big fuss when someone tried to open his laptop on one domestic flight I was on.. At this point, a lot of people are hungry for information about the flight MH370.. Out of respect to the grieving families and friends, I wouldn't dare to go into a game of speculations and talking about things that I really have no knowledge about.. If you have a tooth ache, see a dentist.. if you are ill, seek a doctor.. if your car is in trouble, go to a mechanic.. If you have a missing airplane, seek the experts.. and so far, conspiracy or not, the fate of MH370 is not yet known; and those experts have nothing concrete to contribute without the wreckage of the missing flight..