Business | Telecoms
Thuraya to launch third telecom satellite in January
The UAE's Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company's third satellite will be launched in January and commercial operations will begin three months later, a company official said.
- By Stanley Carvalho, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:00 August 21, 2006
Abu Dhabi: The UAE's Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company's third satellite will be launched in January and commercial operations will begin three months later, a company official said.
Chief Commercial Officer Saeed Al Hamli said Thuraya is also opening an office in Singapore to focus on the Far East markets and Australia, which would come under the coverage of the third satellite.
"Thuraya is on track for launch of its third satellite in January next year and commercial operations would commence in April," Al Hamli said yesterday.
"Thuraya 3 will bring within its coverage area Asian markets such as China, Japan, the Far East, Australia and some others too. We are opening an office in Singapore to manage operations in that region."
Sea Launch Company will launch the third satellite that was built by Boeing Satellite Systems.
Thuraya 3 will replace the ageing Thuraya 1 while Thuraya 2 will continue providing coverage for the Middle East, Europe, North Africa and some other markets.
Thuraya is optimistic it will be competitive in the Far East where satellite services are already available.
"Competition is good, it leads to market awareness and provides choices to consumers. We will be able to penetrate into those markets," said Al Hamli.
The new second generation handsets were delivered to Thuraya last month by Korea's APSI. The response to the handsets has been positive following a workshop held for service providers that included product testing, presentations and marketing strategies.
"The new handsets are meant for the local and overseas markets," said Al Hamli, but the number of handsets delivered was not disclosed. Already 360,000 of the company's handsets are in the market.
Libya: Operator awaits final approval for PCO project
Thuraya is awaiting final approval from the authorities in Libya to launch its public call offices (PCO) services in the North African country.
"We have done installations of over 500 PCOs in Libya as part of our programme to install about 3,000 there. But the final approval is awaited before the services are launched," said Saeed Al Hamli.
In all, over 6,000 PCOs have been installed in markets across the Middle East and Africa.
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