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By METASEBIA FELEKE FORTUNE STAFF WRITER
08 May, 2007
Thuraya Satellite Telecommunication, a company based in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), inaugurated a new integrated sales showroom for satellite phones on May 3, 2007.
Planning to work in collaboration with the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC), the showroom offers mobile handsets with satellite services.
The Thuraya SO-2510, a home or office docking adaptor, Thuraya Fixed Docking Unit and the Thuraya PCO are some of the models displayed that capable of providing telecommunication services in rural or isolated areas.
ETC will be the national telecom provider for the phones and Thuraya’s service provider in the country. The Corporation will provide SIM cards and oversee billing and customer care aspects.
PROBEX, a local communication engineering firm will distribute and market Thuraya’s mobile satellite services and products throughout the country.
“The services that the company is offering are not something that a majority of Ethiopians can afford,” said a technology expert. “The company has a limited target with farmers unions, construction companies, petroleum companies and other companies that work outside of coverage areas being the highest potential market pool for these products.”
Although their prices are not light, Thuraya’s products weigh a mere 180g. The feather weight gadgets are convenient to carry around.
“If the service is anything like the materials, then everything seems to be headed in the right direction,” said the expert.
ETC will get 10pc sales commission and payment for each minute of phone calls made through the satellite. The Corporation is charging half a dollar for one minute of use, according to an official from ETC.
A single phone is being sold for 10,700 Br, including VAT.
“If people go anywhere in Ethiopia where ETC has no network coverage, they would still be able to communicate with people using this product,” the official told Fortune.
The new showroom is the third of its kind in Africa, the first being opened in Egypt and the second in Sudan.
Thuraya provides satellite services to 110 countries across the Europe, Middle East Asia and Africa.
Thuraya was founded in the UAE in 1997 by a consortium of telecommunications operators in the UAE and international investment houses. The turnkey project was built by US satellite manufacturer, Boeing Satellite Systems, formerly Hughes.
The Thuraya-1 satellite was successfully launched from the middle of the Pacific Ocean on October 21, 2000. The launch was a record success, the was the first and heaviest satellite initiated from the Middle East.
Thuraya’s second satellite Thuraya 2, designed for a 12 to 15 year life span, was launched on June 10, 2003. A third satellite built by Boeing Satellite Systems is being readied to launch in the second half of 2007. Thuraya’s third satellite is expected to expand system capacity and coverage area.
The company’s regional mobile telecommunications system has a cost of about one billion dollars.