Middle East mobile satellite giant cuts business amid scare in Iraq: CEO

Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Co., one of the leading mobile satellite operators, has been cutting business in Iraq due to the mounting security concern, the company's CEO said Tuesday.

Yousuf Al Sayed, chief executive officer of the Middle East company, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the ongoing Telecom World 2006 show that Iraq shared the mere seven percent of Thuraya's mobile satellite phone business so far this year.

Iraq boasted a 60-percent and a 40-percent business share of the company in 2004 and 2005 respectively, said the CEO.

"We have to decrease the fund and manpower there (in Iraq) due to the worsening situation," he said.

Thuraya, based in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates, has a share of some 26 percent in the global mobile satellite phone market.

The company, which was founded in 1997, provides mobile satellite services for over 110 nations and regions across the Middle East, Europe, Africa and Asia.

It will launch its third service satellite by the end of March in 2007, adding Asia-Pacific into the coverage, said the CEO.

The company participated in the Telecom World 2006 show, launched by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), in an effort to enhance the cooperation with potential partners and customers.

Industry and government leaders are gathering here at the ITU Telecom World 2006 from Monday to Friday to discuss the technologies of the future that enable the digital world to thrive.

Source: Xinhua