Thuraya keeps Sea Launch service for T3 satellite

Dubai: Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications said it would still launch its $250 million T3 satellite with Sea Launch despite the January launch accident that destroyed another firm's satellite.

UAE-based Thuraya, which is majority owned by etisalat, is next in line to use the Sea Launch service. The launch company, a joint venture between American, Russian, Norwegian, and Ukrainian firms, suffered a major setback when a rocket carrying a communications satellite for Dutch firm SES New Skies failed seconds after takeoff.

The explosion completely engulfed the launch pad, in a scene widely circulated through the internet. Sea Launch uses an ocean-based platform because of its optimal launch position on the earth's surface.

Yousuf Abdullah Al Sayed, Thuraya chief executive, said he was confident the service would be able to put the T3 satellite into space safely.

"Usually after a failure like what happened in January, the next launch is the safest because extra attention is placed on every detail," Al Sayed told Gulf News yesterday.

Thuraya, which has 230,000 subscribers in 110 countries, provides satellite voice and data services for enterprises and governmental clients, both in rural and marine environments not covered by terrestrial networks.

The January accident means that Sea Launch will not be ready to set the T3 satellite into space until October. This now gives Thuraya a six-month setback in its plans to access the Asia Pacific market.

However, because subscriber enrolment in Asia was expected to happen over several years, Thuraya has revised down its expected 2007 revenue by only four per cent as a result of the delay, the CEO said.

Thuraya already has agreements in place to offer service in China and South Korea with local telecoms, and expects to sign a partnership agreement with an Australian service provider by year-end.

The company has said it hopes to win 30,000 new subscribers within the first year of operation of the new satellite.

Indian licence expected soon

Thuraya expects to finally acquire a licence to operate its satellite communications services in India after six years of efforts, the company's CEO said. Yousuf Abdullah Al Sayed said the Indian market has been a top priority since Thuraya launched in 2001, and now that goal is finally within reach.

"There are a lot of changes on the ground in India - the economy is growing quickly and they are opening their markets to telecommunications and removing regulatory barriers," he said. "Hopefully, we will be granted a licence this year."

Al Sayed said India represented a promising market for rural telephony, where Thuraya would help local telecoms fulfil their universal service obligations under their licence agreements, by setting up satellite phones within rural villages for community use.