As Part of Successful Diversification Strategy,

12th April, 2005

Dubai, UAE: Building on a strong market leadership in handheld mobile satellite services, the UAE-based regional satellite operator, Thuraya, is launching soon a broadband data service branded as "ThurayaDSL". As a first step towards an ambitious long-term satellite broadband portfolio, ThurayaDSL is aimed to improve the Company's service offerings to customers in need of reliable high-speed data services in areas lacking adequate terrestrial infrastructure.

The new service will be available across the whole regional coverage of Thuraya spanning more than 120 countries in Europe, North and Central Africa, large parts of Southern Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia and South Asia.

ThurayaDSL is a user-friendly service, based on a notebook-sized plug-and-play device that offers a speed up to 144 kbps on a shared channel. Simply, this terminal, which is SIM card operated, needs to be connected via Ethernet to a notebook or a computer for a normal Internet/data usage.

Thuraya's CEO Mr. Yousuf Al Sayed said ThurayaDSL will complement the Company's existing range of services and solutions geared towards key customers in major corporates, oil and gas operations, NGOs, business travelers, media and other users of data applications.

ThurayaDSL offers a similar experience to that in terrestrial Internet service at office or home, providing a broad range of applications such as Email, Internet, web browsing, File Transfer Protocol, Virtual Private Network and other data facilities.

"The real attraction in this offering is two things: first, it is highly affordable; and second, we are also introducing with it an innovative packaging concept constituting a new value for the mobile satellite industry, especially in the 'unlimited usage' aspect" added Mr. Al Sayed.

He explained that the service would be offered on both Post-paid and Prepaid bases. In view of the varying sizes and work nature of customers, Thuraya has come up with four Postpaid service packages: Light, Plenty, Extra and Unlimited, reflecting different usage volumes and price denominations. There is a fixed monthly subscription fee and a service charge per Megabyte on actual usage that includes some free usage Megabytes on a monthly basis.

"As such, the higher the customer's usage volume, the lower will be his usage price," said Mr. Al Sayed.

Mr. Al Sayed said Thuraya has made substantial investment in the GPRS ground infrastructure technology, and that ThurayaDSL is the first product in the Company's GPRS program that is set to position Thuraya as a key player in the satellite broadband market in the coming few years. "Plans for more advanced data applications are already underway," he emphasized.

Talking of distribution of the new service, he pointed out, "One of our key strengths is that we have an extensive distribution chain comprising more than 100 Service Providers across our vast regional coverage. This makes it much easier and faster for us to offer new services immediately in most, if not all, our markets," he elaborated.

Once launched, ThurayaDSL will be immediately available from all Thuraya's SP outlets.

Thuraya provides cost-effective satellite-based communication solutions in urban centres, as well as remote areas and villages and seas beyond terrestrial telecom networks. It offers mobile and fixed telephony, rural telephony solutions in remote area, maritime communications, fleet management & vehicle tracking, and satellite Internet services across a vast footprint of more than 120 countries.

-Ends-

© Press Release 2005