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Thuraya
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In summer 2001, Thuraya launched two satellites in Geo-synchronous orbit at 44°
East. The project was commissioned by the United Arab Emirates (UEA) to
Boeing for $1 billion as a
turnkey operation.
 Thuraya has since become hugely popular with the Himalayan climbing
community, and has lately been used to upload video files from Everest's
high camps over CONTACT 2.0. After ACeS, Thuraya's handset is the
lightest and smallest on the market at 220 gr. and the voice quality is excellent.
Thuraya phones switch between Sat mod and GSM-mode. At 9.8 kb data rate,
Thuraya is three times faster than Iridium and in
par with Globalstar.
For Explorers, Thuraya will work in Europe, parts of Russia, the Middle
East, parts of Africa and parts of Asia and, most important
–
in all of
the Himalayas.
The
handset comes in two different brands: "Hughes" and "ASCOM". Both
handsets are made by Thuraya, and the only real difference is the
country of manufacture.
Basic cost of the handset is $800 to $1000. Data cable is extra at
$150.
Calling costs vary from $0.89 to $1.50 per min. Add 0.56$ to voice call price
for data traffic. The calling plan is very complicated, based on
location of call. Chances are that even the service provider will have problems telling you the exact
cost.
Thuraya has SMS (short text messages) service and a built in GPS to give your position, but
this is more to make it
possible for the service provider to pinpoint your location for billing.
Check the rates on the GSM mode when you are out traveling. It's priced
pretty well.
The Thuraya Country Code: +88216
At three times the speed of Iridium the lightweight Thuraya handset is a
perfect choice for Himalayan climbing.
Coverage and more
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