The Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Co. will get its third satellite, Thuraya 3, from its manufacturer Boeing by early June 2005, Thuraya Chief Executive for Business Development Jamal Al Jarwan has said.
The company will put the satellite in the standby mode ready for launch, considering that the Thuraya 3 will operate in the same orbit of Thuraya 1 over East Asia, he added, according to WAM.
Jarwan added the company was considering many options for financing the cost of launching and commercially operating the third satellite amounting to some $300 million.
One of the options is to form an independent company by the name Thuraya Asia to be assigned for rendering Thuraya's services to the Far East. Such a company could be established under partnership between the mother company -- Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Co. -- and a consortium of strategic shareholders in the communications sector and local and regional finance houses, he said.
The second option is to raise the capital of the mother company by launching a public issue on the securities market, he added.
According to him, a preliminary study indicated that launching the Thuraya 3 will lure some 65,000 subscribers in the first year of commercial operation.
Al Jarwan explained that the cost of launching and operating the third and fourth satellites together would hit $600 million and that the company would consider viable economic strategies to finance the launch and operation of the two satellites.
The total number of subscribers of Thuraya amounted to 218,000 up to early October, he disclosed. (menareport.com)
