The Global Mobile Satellite System (GMSS) consists of several satellite phone providers serving private customers. It can be compared to PLMN (wireless telephony carriers) and PSTN (traditional wire-based telephony).
As of 2023, ranges of numbers have been assigned to two GMSS carriers:
In 1996, the ITU introduced country code +881 for direct international dialing of phones on GMSS providers. (Inmarsat had already been allocated country code +870.) The next digit following the country code is allocated (two at a time) to a particular GMSS carrier:[1] [2]
| Carrier | GMSS codes | |
|---|---|---|
| spare (formerly ICO) | +881 0 +881 1 | |
| spare (formerly Ellipso) | +881 2 +881 3 | |
| spare | +881 4 +881 5 | |
| Iridium | +881 6 +881 7 | |
| Globalstar | +881 8 +881 9 |
Inmarsat is a satellite-based communications provider, but it is primarily a maritime service and is not generally considered part of the GMSS.
Globalstar usually allocates subscribers with a local number in the country they are based rather than using their GMSS country code.
Iridium also uses an Arizona-based access number to call Iridium phones for those unwilling or unable to call the usually expensive GMSS number directly.[3]
Thuraya has been assigned +882-16, within the +882 range for International Networks.