MOSCOW-The Arabic Thuraya satellite communications company said it is ready to launch a free service in Russia in March. The service will be free because Thuraya has not yet agreed on building a ground station necessary for commercial operation.
The Abu-Dhabi, United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based carrier, represented in Russia by the TM-SAT company, said it would start selling its phones that will operate both satellite and GSM technology for an approximate price of US$800.
“We are convinced that in the coming days we shall have our telephones certified, which will allow us to launch in March,” said Oleg Leonov, TM-SAT commercial director.
Thuraya has already reached roaming agreements with the “big troika” of Russian carriers-Mobile TeleSystems (MTS), Vimpelcom (BeeLine) and Megafon. It plans to have 10,000 subscribers by the end of the year.
“Formalization of documents is close to completion,” Communications Ministry spokesman Sergei Grigorenko confirmed.
To charge for traffic, Thuraya has to launch a ground station in Russia to grant control to authorities over communications coming from such turbulent areas as North Caucasus and Chechnya, in particular. Although the station is technically unnecessary for the operator, it had to accept the term and build the facility by April 2004. However Leonov admitted Thuraya is still looking for an investor for the project, which experts estimate at US$30 million to US$40 million.
Thuraya currently operates one satellite that covers the Middle East, northern and central Africa, and the south of Russia. Moscow is so far outside the coverage area but will be within it after Thuraya launches a second satellite in the second quarter of 2003.
