Thuraya gains global GSM roaming coverage with new partnerships

A partnership with Latin American telecommunications providers Claro and Telefónica will extend the GSM roaming coverage of MSS (mobile satellite service provider) Thuraya Telecommunications Company into 11 more countries across the Americas.

The new roaming agreements will enable GSM roaming for voice and data services for Thuraya users in Alaska, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands, as well as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

Starting April 12, 2013, Thuraya's improved roaming service will enable seamless roaming on the Claro and Telefónica networks for Thuraya subscribers. All it will take is inserting a Thuraya SIM card in any GSM or smartphone. In return, Claro and Telefónica subscribers will soon be able to roam across Thuraya’s satellite network via Thuraya satellite handsets.

The new roaming agreements will add Claro and Telefónica to the 354 other GSM networks that Thuraya users in over 161 countries can access through Thuraya's satellite coverage.

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ViaSat, RascomStar demonstrates GSM cellular service for remote regions

The AfricaCom 2012 international show witnessed the successful live demonstration of a new GSM cellular service jointly developed by Pan-African satellite operator RascomStar and satellite and mobility communications company ViaSat. This new cellular service caters to customers in remote and under-served areas.

RascomStar made its announcement on November 20, 2012. In its statement, the Company reported that visitors to its common AfricaCom booth could place a call to anywhere in the world thanks to a low-power GSM site that leverages the RASCOM-QAF1R communications satellite.

The GSM cellular service developed by RascomStar and ViaSat is the first of its kind that uses bandwidth-efficient, low-power infrastructure to deliver GSM/3G voice, messaging, and data services to to hitherto unreachable areas.

The RascomStar-ViaSat is a low-cost turnkey managed service. ViaSat provided its ip.access technology for the ground segment while RascomStar handled the space segment. According to the partner companies, the solution was designed for easy scalability. It also reduces risks for mobile operators while boosting profits and sustainability at the same time.


You can read more about similar cellular backhaul services here.