New Thuraya Location Services Launched

Building upon the success of "ThurayaLocate" service launched in August 2008, two more location services based on Thuraya system have recently been launched by Geonix, a leading UK-based location services and equipment provider. ThurayaAssist and ThurayaRelay are new services that are deployed on the GPS feature built in Thuraya handsets.

Uniquely, every satellite phone developed for the Thuraya network contains an embedded GPS positioning system, and this is used - when initiated by the user - to report the handset's position to the Thuraya location service servers.

ThurayaAssist^TM caters to corporate clients, NGOs and government organizations and is a fully manned and managed emergency position and response service available 24 hours a day and 365 days a year.With one call to the global control center, advice and assistance is initiated from specially trained security specialists, who are able to view the user's location from within 10 meters, anywhere on earth. Consequently, routine position reports and emergency SMS messages can be relayed up to ten email addresses and mobile phone numbers of family, friends and loved ones to know where users of ThurayaAssist^TM are. Additionally, tailored security information and pre-trip briefings for all countries is provided with unlimited usage to members of the new service. ThurayaAssist^TM is provided at a subscription cost of just $249.99 a year per handset.

ThurayaRelay^TM is a service also for corporate clients, NGOs and government organisations that wish to have the relaying of routine and emergency position reports, but who wish to manage the response centre themselves. A full range of country and region security information continues to be available via access through the website. The cost for ThurayaRelay^TM is $149.99 a year per handset.

Both services are only available on customer's demand and can be subscribed to online by logging onto ThurayaLocate, ThurayaAssist and ThurayaRelay web sites. Moreover, subscribers can message Geonix on a specialised Thuraya number or contact Geonix directly. Alternatively, they can demand the service from their Thuraya SP. ThurayaAssist and ThurayaRelay are unique services that preserve the privacy rights of all users.