Thuraya to expand satellite services

LONDON—United Arab Emirates-based mobile satellite service provider, Thuraya, plans to expand its 100-country network as soon as next year. Chief Executive Yousuf Al Sayed anticipates another satellite, built by Boeing under a $960 million deal, to be launched by 2002.
The satellite provider launched its first high-power geosynchronous earth orbiting (GEO) satellite, built by Boeing Satellite Systems, in October 2000, and began commercial services last month. The company’s first satellite offers a footprint encompassing Europe, Central Asia, the Indian subcontinent and North and Central Africa.
“We’re looking East and West—at Southeast Asia and North and South America—and actually these are the only places left. We aim to be wherever the landmasses are,” Al Sayed said.
“Our current subscriber level is a few thousand but we have just started. We conducted several surveys and believe that there are 1.8 million potential subscribers in our area,” Al Sayed continued.
Thuraya is not the first satellite telecom firm with global or regional ambitions. The mid-90s saw Motorola launch Iridium, a 66-satellite service. The project failed, primarily due to bulky phones and expensive charges. U.S. operator Globalstar is also currently considering filing for bankruptcy after posting a loss for the second quarter this year.
Thuraya, however, believes that it has implemented safeguards against such failure. Costs have been kept to a minimum, so the company can offer an affordable service.
“Our main edge lies in the fact that we just have one satellite, one gateway, which means once we launch, we’re in business,” Al Sayed explained. “We also have a say on GSM tariffs with all our partner networks, and call costs between Thuraya phones are fixed anywhere in the world.”
The Thuraya handset is slightly larger than a mobile phone. Users can lock onto GSM networks or switch to satellite mode when out of the local coverage area.