DUBAI, Nov 15 (Reuters) - The Abu Dhabi-based Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company will go ahead with plans to put its first communications satellite into orbit, and says it is unconcerned by the demise of two similar firms.
Thuraya Project Manager Yousuf al-Sayed told Reuters in an interview that the first telecommunications satellite, built by the U.S.-based Hughes Network System, would be launched into orbit in the middle of next year and operations would start in the fourth quarter of 2000.
``We had been able to proceed on schedule in terms of manufacturing the satellite and other equipment,'' he said.
Asked if the bankruptcy of U.S.-based satellite telecommunications firms ICO Global Communications and Iridium World Communications Ltd in August worried Thuraya, Sayed said:
``I don't want to comment on the activities of other companies. But we started with a clear work plan and we began after the GSM explosion, taking into consideration that we would not compete with the GSM.''
Iridium filed for bankruptcy after it defaulted on more than $1.5 billion in loans, while ICO filed for protection after it failed to secure $600 million in financing commitments.
Thuraya, with a capital of $500 million, is owned by several major Arab enterprises, including the UAE's Etisalat telecommunications company, the Abu Dhabi Investment Co, Qatar's Q-Tel and the Arab Satellite Communications Organisation (Arabsat) -- owned by 21 Arab countries.
``Our overall expenditure is $70 million below the original plan. We are proceeding according to plan and had not deviated from it, like other companies did,'' he said.
Sayed said Thuraya, which is a private joint stock company, will offer some of its shares to the public, possibly in 2001, after it turns a profit.
He said Sea Launch, a joint venture between U.S. aerospace firm Boeing and Anglo-Norwegian engineering group Kvaener, will launch Thuraya's first satellite from a platform in the Pacific Ocean.
The satellite will cover 99 countries, extending mobile communications services throughout the Arab world, Iran, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Central Asia, Turkey and parts of Europe, and will make services available in remote areas.
Sayed said five separate studies conducted on behalf the company showed that there was a market of between eight to nine million subscribers, ``many times the capacity of our company.''
``Thuraya's market is in areas that are not covered by the land-based GSM system...especially in countries with huge territories and rugged topography,'' Sayed said.
He said that while feasibility studies showed that a minimum of 290,000 subscribers were needed to make the venture profitable, the company expects more than 460,000 subscribers in the first year of operation to end 2001.
He said service providers had been signed in Saudi Arabia and Pakistan and an agreement with a service provider in Iran was ready for signing while a deal may be signed in Turkey before the end of the year.
advertisement
