Thuraya to launch satellite mobile services in Asia-Pacific
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Sun, 18 Nov 2007 03:54:00 GMT |
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Dubai, Nov 18 - Thuraya, the United Arab Emirates-based world's largest provider of handheld mobile satellite services, is set to commercially launch its operations in the Asia-Pacific markets by January with the launch of its third satellite on Monday.'The launch of Thuraya-3 is a significant milestone in the company's progress towards realizing its strategic vision of becoming a dynamic, world leading, multi-regional mobile satellite operator,' Thuraya chief executive Yousuf Al Sayed told the Emirates News Agency (WAM).Though the launch of Thuraya-3 was originally scheduled for 3.47 p.m. (9.47 p.m. IST) Sunday, it has been rescheduled for 7.47 p.m. Monday, according to the Abu Dhabi-headquartered Thuraya website.Thuraya-3 is the third and latest geo-mobile satellite manufactured by Boeing for Thuraya, and will be launched by the US-based Sea Launch rocket from the Equator in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.The first two satellites, Thuraya-1 and Thuraya-2, the largest commercial satellites ever in their times, were launched in 2000 and 2003 respectively.The Sea Launch rocket will place Thuraya-3 into geosynchronous transfer orbit. The satellite will then eventually approach its designated orbital slot at 98.5 degrees east longitude.Once operational, the new satellite will commercially double Thuraya's current coverage to include all Asia-Pacific countries, enabling it to offer its handheld, fixed, broadband and maritime services in China, Japan, Australia, Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, according to WAM.Thuraya's subscribers are now mainly based in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.The company distributes its products and service through authorized service providers. Its shareholders are a mixture of Middle Eastern and North African telecom companies and investment companies.Thuraya handsets have a dual-mode feature that allows them to operate in the Thuraya satellite network and GSM terrestrial mobile networks.The dual-mode feature of the handset is similar to the GSM (operators in India like Airtel and Vodafone) and CDMA (operators in India like Reliance and Tata Indicom) handsets on the Globalstar system.The company has concluded roaming agreements with over 200 cellular operators around the world, providing its customers the ability of using their Thuraya phones outside the satellite coverage. (c) Indo-Asian News Service
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