[tt] Wikpedia: Thuraya

Mon Oct 8 00:16:23 UTC 2007

Thuraya - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thuraya
[Thanks to Eugen for this.]

Thuraya (Arabic: a+l+tkr+y+a+ /ath:uraj:a/ which is the Arabic name
for Pleiades) is a regional satellite phone provider, mainly
focused on the Europe, Middle East, and Africa but has plans to
expand its coverage to East Asia, Australia and possibly South
America.

The company is based in the United Arab Emirates and distributes
its products and service through authorized service providers. Its
shareholders are a mixture of Middle Eastern and North African
telcos (in which Etisalat is a major one) and investment companies.

The current number of subscribers is around 250,000 (March 2006).
Some 360,000 Thuraya handsets have been put in service since launch
in 2001. The subscriber growth has apparently slowed down during
the last year, but Thuraya still made a net profit of US$80 million
on revenues of $323 million in 2005 (compared to just US$26 million
profit in 2004).

Contents

* 1 Services
* 2 Subscriber equipment
* 3 Technical details of the network
   + 3.1 Satellites
* 4 References
* 5 Gallery of Images
* 6 See also
* 7 External links

Services

Thuraya provides the following satellite-based services:
* Voice communications with handheld (Thuraya SO-2510, SG-2520
Hughes 7100/7101 (discontinued) and Ascom 21 (discontinued)) or
fixed terminals
* Short message service
* 9.6 kbit/s of data & fax service
* 60kbit/s downlink and 15kbit/s uplink "GMPRS" mobile data
service on SO and SG handsets
* 144 kbit/s high-speed data transfer via a notebook-sized
terminal (ThurayaDSL)
* GPS is supported by terminals
* A number of value-added services, such as news, call back, call
waiting, missed calls, voicemail, WAP, etc.
* A 'high power alert' capability that notifies users of an
incoming call, when they are out of the satellite coverage

Subscriber equipment

All Thuraya handsets (except for the SO-2510) have a dual-mode
feature that allows them to operate in the Thuraya satellite
network and GSM terrestrial mobile networks. Thuraya has concluded
roaming agreements with over 200 wireless (cellular) operators
around the world, providing its customers the ability of using
their Thuraya phones outside the satellite coverage. The dual-mode
feature of the handset is similar to the Telit (GSM/Satellite) and
Qualcomm (CDMA/Satellite) handsets on the Globalstar system.

The second generation of Thuraya devices are becoming available.
The satellite-only SO-2510 was released in November 2006. It has a
colour screen and is claimed to be the smallest and lightest
satellite phone in the world and uses the VxWorks operating system.
The SG-2520 was released in early 2007, this is a dual-mode hanset
that also connects to GSM/GPRS services and is based on Windows CE
and made by a South Korean manufacturer. The device is slightly
bigger than the SO-2510 but it also has a camera, GPS and support
for SD Cards. The operating system is a rather customised version
of Windows CE and is not at all like Windows Mobile. It has support
for running Java J2ME applications only.

Thuraya will also be releasing a so called "Thuraya Module", a
small (70x50x20 mm) unit designed for integration into other
devices. This will provide USB and digital audio interfaces and be
run on VxWorks OS. Previously, third-party hardware developers used
to remove electronics from handsets and integrate it into their
hardware.

Handsets communicate directly with the satellites using an antenna
of roughly the same length as the handset and have a maximum output
power of 2 Watts. QPSK modulation is used for the air interface.
Thuraya SIM cards will work in regular GSM phones and ordinary GSM
SIM cards can be used on the satellite network as long as the GSM
provider has a roaming agreement with Thuraya.

Technical details of the network

Thuraya's country code is +882 16, which is labelled by the ITU as
"International Networks". This is unusual as most other satellite
phone companies like Iridium uses the Global Mobile Satellite
System country code of 881.

Satellites

Thuraya operates two communications satellites built by Boeing.

Thuraya 1

The first satellite, named Thuraya 1, has deficient solar panels
and cannot operate properly, this satellite is currently positioned
above Korea for testing purposes. It was launched on 2000-10-21 by
SeaLaunch on a Zenit 3SL rocket.^[1] At launch it weighted 5250
kg.^[2]

Thuraya 2

Thuraya 2 was launched by SeaLaunch on 2003-06-10.^[3] It is
located in geosynchronous orbit at 44 deg-E longitude, inclined at
6.3 degrees.^[4] The satellite can handle 13,750 simultaneous voice
calls.

Thuraya 3

The third satellite was planned for launch by SeaLaunch in Q1 2007,
and the start of Far East and Australia service was planned for
2007-10-15. The failure in January 2007 of another SeaLaunch rocket
led to a delay in the launch of Thuraya-3, which is now planned for
2007-10-28.^[5] This satellite is expected to be fully operational
two months after launch^[6]

References

1. [73]Thuraya 1. [74]NSSDC.
2. [76]Thuraya-1 Complete System for Mobile Communications. Boeing.
3. [78]Thuraya 2. NSSDC.
4. [80]Sea Launch Past Launches Thuraya-2. Boeing.
5. [82]Sea Launch Receives Zenit-3SL Hardware for Next Launches. Sea 
Launch.
6. 
http://www.itp.net/news/499833-thuraya-reaches-out-all-across-the-globe?start=0

This article needs additional references or sources for
verification.
Please help this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced
material may be challenged and removed.(September 2007)

Gallery of Images
Thuraya's old logo
A Thuraya handset, a Hughes 7101
A Thuraya phone used in Algeria, 2004.
A Thuraya phone, and its charger

See also

* Globalstar
* Iridium

External links

[96]Thuraya Website
[97]Thuraya Phones Documentation and Manuals: SG-2520 (PDF)
[98]SO-2510 (PDF)
[99]Ascom 21 (PDF)
[100]Hughes 7100 (PDF)
[101]7101 (PDF)

References

73. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=2000-066A
76. http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/bss/factsheets/geomobile/thuraya/thuraya.html
78. http://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/database/MasterCatalog?sc=2003-026A
80. http://www.boeing.com/special/sea-launch/past_thuraya2.html
82. http://www.sea-launch.com/news_releases/nr_070903.html
96. http://www.thuraya.com/
97. http://www.highspeedsat.com/sg-2520.htm#thuraya_phone_manuals
98. http://www.highspeedsat.com/sg-2520.htm#thuraya_phone_manuals
99. http://www.highspeedsat.com/ascom21.htm#ascom_phone_manuals
100. http://www.highspeedsat.com/hns-7100.htm#hughes_phone_manuals
101. http://www.highspeedsat.com/thuraya7101.htm#hughes_thuraya_phone_manuals