Thuraya provides mobile satellite services in more than 140 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East and has unveiled an ambitious strategy to attack new markets. This year has seen the operator make more of a push into Asia as well as target broadband markets with the release of ThurayaIP, a mobile broadband data service.
    CABSAT e-Daily spoke with Thuraya CEO Yousuf Al Sayed about the company’s growth prospects as well as its infrastructure plans.

CABSAT e-Daily: Do you think the Middle East will feel the impact of the recession?

Al Sayed: The Middle East comprises a combination of different economies with dissimilar structures and market situations, which makes it difficult to be viewed as one economic bloc. For example, there are key oil-producing and emerging markets that are integrated in world economy which have enjoyed significant growth over the past five years, and still show high potential. Such markets will experience a slowdown, but surely not a recession that might be faced by markets that had already been comparatively sluggish.

CABSAT e-Daily: How would this impact the satellite industry?

Al Sayed: It is premature to anticipate the impact of this financial crisis on the satellite industry. This will be clearer in the longer term of the coming two to three years. However, in the near-term, it is obviously going to severely affect the project financing side. New satellite ventures that did not already have finance in place before the crisis could now be struggling.

CABSAT e-Daily: Do you expect to still have profit and growth in 2009?

Al Sayed: The approved budget and business plan for year 2009 shows that Thuraya will be making profit. This will be supported by a promising expansion in the Asia-Pacific markets — where we launched Thuraya-3 last year — and a faster rollout of our new service offerings, namely ThurayaIP and ThurayaMarine.

CABSAT e-Daily: Are you making more conservative forecasts as a result of worsening economic conditions?

Al Sayed: The forecast we made for 2009 is conservative compared with previous years. In terms of overall business, Thuraya is not expected to witness any tangible effect as a result of the worsening economic conditions. … With the added geographical coverage and new products launched in late 2008, Thuraya is confident about achieving its goals in the coming five years.

CABSAT e-Daily: Do you still expect there to be a strong demand for satellite capacity in 2009?

Al Sayed: The demand for satellite capacity will remain strong in 2009 because there will always be a continued and expanding need for communications. We have been seeing a capacity shortage in the market since some time back, especially in fixed services, and this clearly indicates increased momentum for the satellite business. The Middle East is one of the fastest-growing markets and we expect it to remain a hotspot for generating this demand.

CABSAT e-Daily: Where do you see the major growth areas for your business in 2009?

Al Sayed: In terms of market segments, we clearly see that Thuraya’s business growth will be in the areas of broadband and maritime services, and Thuraya already has strong propositions for these segments. In terms of regions, we believe the business momentum witnessed in Africa will be continued at least over the coming five years. Most importantly, Asia-Pacific, where we started last year, is expected to drive our subscriber and usage growth as we launch commercial service in new lucrative markets.