Smart ties up with Thuraya of Dubai

MANILA, Philippines - Smart Communications Inc., a unit of dominant carrier Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), has tied up with Dubai-based Thuraya Telecommunications Co. as it earmarked $20 million to augment its satellite services worldwide.

Orlando Vea, chief wireless advisor for Smart, said in a press conference that the company has allocated $20 million for the tie up with the world-leading mobile satellite services provider to build the needed infrastructure and acquire equipment.

Vea pointed out that the latest and exclusive tie-up with Thuraya is expected to double or even triple the number of users of Smart’s satellite services through Smart Link.

“That (tie up) will more than double or triple the number of users. Smart was looking for innovation and Thuraya was there. It is actually mobile meets satellite,” he said.

“This makes satellite communication simpler and more accessible to people in the media, military, mining, tourism and more. With Smart’s widest cellular coverage in the country and Thuraya’s satellite footprint that reaches even the remotest areas in the Philippines and beyond, a communications dead spot is now a thing of the past for mobile users,” Vea said.

Smart executive vice president and head of wireless consumer business Charles Lim said the tie up with Thuraya expanded the company’s satellite footprint to cover two-thirds of the world.

Lim said Smart Satellite Services are now accessible in the land areas and major sealanes in Asia, New Zealand, Australia, Middle East, Africa, Europe, and Indian Ocean.

“Aside from giving us broader coverage, our partnership with Thuraya enables us to offer our customers a broader range of services, including text messaging and mobile data applications,” he added.

The partnership between Smart and Thuraya would make satellite communications services “more accessible, affordable and relevant” to a wider market.

Smart head of global access group Tina Mariano told reporters that the partnership targets the 700,000 Filipino seafarers working around the world as the Philippines account for about 30 percent of the 1.2 million seafarers worldwide.

Mariano said the seafarers remitted $4.825 billion and accounted for about 22.5 percent of the record $20.5 billion amount remitted by Filipinos working overseas last year.

She pointed out that its satellite service dubbed Smart Link and launched in 2002 has over 250,000 users in over 7,500 vessels spread worldwide. It had a rate of P15 per minute when it was launched in 2002.