Mobile satellite operator Thuraya has opened its doors to commercial business in the Asia-Pacific region, with its sights aimed squarely on Inmarsat’s maritime business.

Tests on the recently launched Thuraya-3 satellite have been completed, giving UAE-based Thuraya coverage over much of Asia, and effectively doubling the market size and population covered by the Thuraya system.

That opens up Thuraya’s handheld satellite phone service to a new customer base and gives existing users more satellite-based roaming options, said Thuraya CEO Yousuf Al Sayed.

The operator has established distribution and marketing partnerships with network operators in Australia, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mongolia and Macau.

One of Thuraya’s chief strategies will be to target the maritime market with its ThurayaMarine service, with several specialized maritime distributors already signed up to provision services in Asia.

However, Thuraya has its work cut out for it in the maritime comms space, which is currently dominated by Inmarsat.

Not unexpectedly, Inmarsat – which also has its own handheld MSS service in Asia via ACeS – reckons it has the upper hand.

“We think competition is good for the overall business, but we also think our customers will prefer someone who has the expertise and reliability developed by over 30 years of experience,” said Inmarsat APAC sales and marketing VP Perry Melton.

One edge Inmarsat won’t have over Thuraya is broadband, as both services offer data speeds of 432-kbps and 444-kbps, respectively.

Source:CommunicAsia Show Daily