Sounds like an interesting read. Personally I wouldn't want to deny someone a sat phone if it made them more comfortable but using it daily to contact multiple people would just drive me insane.  Of course I'm not the easiest person to get along with and I like to know who I am canoeing with especially if we are going to be close for several days.  I can take anything for a day (at least I think so) but I like to try out short trips with people before I commit to overnighters and weeks at a time, well thats another story. I think somewhere along the trip that phone would have disappeared only to be miraculously found upon return to civilization.

I think that using a phone in that manner on a wilderness trip is a great imposition on others in the party unless discussed in great detail long before the trip.