Thuraya

Thuraya (Arabic: الثريا‎, ), from the Arabic name Thurayya meaning Star, is an international mobile satellite services provider based in the United Arab Emirates. The company claims to operate in more than 140 countries across Europe, the Middle East, North, Central and East Africa, Asia and Australia. As of July 12,2012, Thuraya extended its reach by partnering with T-Mobile USA to provide roaming services in the United States.

Use of Thuraya Satphones was banned in India in 2010, after the company failed to convince the Indian government that its services could not be abused by terrorists targeting India.

Established in 1997, Thuraya’s satellites enable two-thirds of the globe’s population to communicate in areas unserved by terrestrial networks. The organization provides data and voice satellite communications solutions in remote locations for the energy, media, government, NGO and maritime sectors

They have sold in excess of 600,000 satellite handheld phones since launching in 2001. Thuraya offers the only dual mode satellite phone, the Thuraya XT-DUAL, a handset that features both GSM and satellite capabilities. In addition, Thuraya provides the Thuraya IP data modem, a secure and rapidly deployable satellite broadband solution offering connection speeds up to 444 kbit/s standard IP.

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