DUBAI, UAE, April 23, 2007 - Satnews Daily - Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company, a Dubai-based provider of mobile satellite handheld services, has signed a service provider (SP) agreement with China Satellite Communications Global Ltd (ChinaSat). ChinaSat is a subsidiary of China Satcom, one of the six main telecom operators in China with some 200 subsidiaries and 20,000 employees.
This commercial alliance appoints ChinaSat as the sole service provider and distributor of Thuraya space-based products and services throughout China, including all promotional, marketing, sales, and customer support aspects. On a strategic level, Thuraya also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with China Satcom to leverage portfolios and competitiveness of their respective satellite telecom services. The SP agreement was signed in Beijing this week by Thuraya CEO Yousuf Al Sayed and Lu Ruifeng, ChinaSat CEO.
Al Sayed said they are pleased to have built this special and unique partnership with China Satcom, which is a highly advanced and reputable company in China and in the satellite telecom business. He noted that the agreement signing is considered to a stepping stone in building a long-term and strong cooperation between the two companies, especially through the broad scope of the MoU.
Lu said Thuraya has versatile satellite capabilities and is aiming to cover two-thirds of the globe population with the launch of its third satellite later this year. “The imminent introduction of Thuraya's services in the Asia-Pacific region will further enhance our ability to meet China's growing demand for reliable communication services, especially in the vast rural and remote areas of the country,” he said.
“With its recently launched GEN-II products, namely the 'smallest' and 'smartest' handheld satellite phones, Thuraya will enrich the range of satellite telecom products and services offered by China Satcom.” Lu said these products will be especially beneficial to the booming transport, maritime, oil and gas and farming sectors.
The partnership agreement signed in China is part of Thuraya's efforts to have the commercial infrastructure in place before launching its new satellite, Thuraya-3, in the fourth quarter of this year.
The SP Agreement and MoU signed are seen to be part of an increasing mutual economical cooperation between the UAE and China. The UAE's Foreign Minister and a large delegation concluded a successful visit to China recently, during which a number of mutual agreements were signed.
Incorporated in 2001, China Satcom is a state-owned company managed by the Ministry of Information. The member enterprises of China Satcom include China Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Corp., China Orient Telecommunications Satellite Company Co, Ltd., China Space Mobile Satellite Telecommunications Co, Ltd., China Posts & Telecommunications Translation Service Corp. and China Telecom (Hong Kong) Chinasat Corp.
China Satcom offers a range of satellite-enabled services in telecommunications, broadcast, MSS services, Internet, VSAT, networking, 3.5G WLAN, 800MHz trunking services, data services based on GPS, audio, data and multimedia services based on satellite transmission technology.
