Yes I had a look at something similar on the Telstra site. It has a wifi function which allows several mobile devices to link to it.

I like the idea but ...

1. The cost on the Telstra site of anything was a minimum of say $1500 to several thousand dollars.

2. If walking in the bush, one would now have to carry the wifi device and a mobile phone, plus gps/uhf radio etc plus all the other stuff. So while versatile adds yet another thing to carry.

Does have some merit if the price was say $500 or less, and like Claydog's can use the normal data allowance instead of needing a sat card.

Will have a look at the Optus site as well. Plus ebay for decent priced stuff.

PS An advantage of such a wifi device, is one could in theory make posts from the bush for a "live" feed of hunts .... ha ha ha, when I am in the bush the last ffffing thing I want to do is make internet posts.