During the October 8 earthquake, Thuraya Company opened 200 PCOs in the devastated areas and donated 50 sets with prepaid airtime to the government. All PCOs were facilitated with 70 percent-reduced rates to facilitate the communication, said Chief Operation Officer, Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company Pakistan Shehryar Hassan.
Thuraya system greatly helped during the earthquake calamity, he said, where all systems had collapsed, but this system is not dependent on any network, it is directly linked to satellite, he added. He was speaking at an introductory seminar on Thuraya Services, here on Monday.
Taking advantage of these facilities, he said Thuraya emerged as one of the leading satellite communication service to cater to the needs of 115 countries of the world. Besides being the most affordable service among its competitors, it provides excellent quality, he said.
Briefing about the company, Country Manager UAE Ahmad Muhammad Al Sharief said that Thuraya is the largest satellite mobile phone service provider globally. He appreciated the government policies, which have ensured the congenial atmosphere for the foreign investors.
Though it is meant to facilitate areas, which are not accessible, by other routine telecommunication services, the manager said, it provides option of converting to GSM to facilitate the customer in the areas where telecommunication networks are also available.
He said that Thuraya combines Satellite, GSM and GPS in one phone. The incoming call is totally free, Voicemail service, and many other features are free. Talking of its DSL Service, he said its rate of data transfer is 144 kbps, which is five times faster than extended by an ordinary ISP.
The company is going to enhance its system in 2007 and two-third of the world would be covered except North and South America, he said. Earlier, Shehryar Hassan said that they have nine offices in main cities of Pakistan. The first was launched in Lahore in February 2002, and it has 500 corporate clients in the country. Speaking about the advantages of Thuraya Satellite communications, he said, oil companies, NGOs and aid Agencies, army, rangers and others utilised its services, the most.
Junaid Hashmat, Product Manager, briefed about the set and its accessories in detail.