I rented a sat phone from Mobal.  They had great service, and sent two batteries.  So I charged em both and took the extra along in a zip lock. (Never used it in 6 days)  I think they charged $9 per day and $2.00 min in 2009. 
In 2011 I rented one from Harlan at Red Lake Outfitters. $16 per day and $4 per minute.  Thing is, when renting from Mobal you need to order it to arrive at your place before you leave and then drive home and mail it back.  So you end up renting the phone at least two days extra or more for me ussually.  So it was six of one and half dozen to pay Harlan a little more ane rent his.  And would rather support his business anyway.  His phone worked great.  I used it 7 days, I always call home at 6 pm.  Talk 5 minutes, and she gives me a weather update.  In 2012 thinking SPOT.
SunCatcher

I have been using Globalstar and it failing fleet of satellites for many years. I own my own phone and the airtime pricing can't be beat. To help overcome all the deadtime when only faulty satellites are passing overhead Globalstar list on their site the times when a functioning satellite is over the region you have selected. This information is available for about the next two days.

I turn the phone on when my notes say it will work. Each evening when I do this the next batch of call times comes to me via a text message from my wife. She sends me the call times from 6PM to 9PM. There would always be at least 3 call times of about 10 minutes duration. I would also call her each evening and check in. Using this method I was never wasting battery power. I was able to call her most nights and talk for a few minutes. Twenty three days of this and my Globalstar phone still showed half of the battery power remaining.

It was a bit of a hassle but it worked well for us. If you can pick up a used phone cheap and get their unlimited package of text and talk it might be an option.

We have tried renting sat. phones from different places but now we only rent from:    (You need to Login or Register to view media files and links)
they are the cheapest and the best.  Check the price on their website.  To save on the return shipping use USPS, it's cheaper  and just as fast as the other more expensive shipping options.

zski wrote on Jul 14^th, 2011 at 4:49am:

need to adjust the comment about charges. actual total was 135.00. 108 base and 27 for 12 min of talk and 2 sms messages.

Sounds like a pretty good deal if you want/need a Sat phone.  My experience with the sat phone rentals in Ely is that outfitters have run out of them, even though we specifically reserved one, due to dead batteries or abuse from clients.  Worked out well for me because I didn't want to take it anyway.  If you are dead-set on taking one, procuring beforehand is a good idea.

Mobal was pretty good. There were a couple times when we didn't have signal and a few steps away from trees made all the difference. had to call out 3 times, sent and received a few text messages. was no additional charge for the calls or text. flat rate of 108 for the week (did not purchase insurance). never got close to needing battery #2. I'd much prefer not taking one at all but in this case it worked out ok, and would use this provider again if need be. That said, i have no experience with any other sat phone provider.

We rent satellite phones out of our business. We recommend people set a time to check in with folks back home and only turn the satellite phone on at that time.  Otherwise the batteries will not last for your trip.  The reception of all brands is somewhat sketchy at times so it is best to not rely on it 100 percent.  SPOT is an option for letting people know where you are and if you are ok.

Happy Paddling,

Snow_Dog wrote on Jun 2^nd, 2011 at 11:32pm:
Sure, glad to, once the 20/20 hindsight is available.

I've used these guys a couple of times and found them easy to work with.

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I used the Motorola 9505A which is $9.99 per day, with a bundle of 50 minutes at $1.79 per minute.  If you really don't plan to use it except in emergency you can just pay 1.99 per minute and only pay for what you use.

Worked great overall and was easy to use.

Sounds like Mobal might be cheaper...if they don't charge more per minute than what I was paying.

I would like to hear an after-trip report on Mobal if it's not too much trouble.  If it's cheaper and they are not a hassle to work with, I'd give them a try next time I need one.

zski wrote on Jun 2^nd, 2011 at 9:08pm:

Mine was to leave the phone on between 7 and 9 PM each evening.

dd