An interface (52) is provided between a satellite telephone system (4) and
a cellular telephone system (5) for allowing calls to a user's cellular
telephone to be diverted to a satellite telephone handset (25) when the
user is unable to use his cellular telephone, for example when on board
an aircraft (2) fitted with a satellite telephone system (20). The user
inserts a card (which may be the SIM of his mobile phone, or a card
compatible with existing satellite telephone equipment) into a suitable
reader in the satellite telephone (20), which causes the satellite ground
station's card verification system (42) to connect to a host cellular
network (50). The host cellular network has an interface unit (52) which
emulates the operation of a normal base station, so that the host
cellular system (50) acts as if the mobile user's terminal is roaming on
the host network, but is currently "busy". The interface (52) also resets
the user's existing call diversion instructions so that when the host
cellular system (5) receives a busy tone from the base station emulator
(52), it routes calls to the directory number of the terminal (20). Data
messages originally formatted for transmission over the cellular
telecommunications network for generation of a display on a display unit
of a cellular telephone, can instead be transmitted over the satellite
network for display on the information and entertainment system of the
aircraft by replacing the address information in the original data
message by address information appropriate to the selected display unit
to generate an amended data message. A new data message is created,
addressed to the server of the information display system and having the
amended data message as payload. The onboard server has means for
converting the amended data message into control instructions suitable to
display the information content of the data message on the information
display unit identified in the amended data message.