No more Thuraya service in Australia?!

[El-Dracho]

I heard news today that the Thuraya service and therefore coverage for Australia will be completely discontinued. It says that it is not possible to recover the satellite that is currently down and the service will be discontinued.

I think this is important news for our members in Australia. But what is the current situation exactly?

@rtexpeditions You are a HAM and know your way around comms.
@Steve_ohhhhh You know the region very well.

So, hence the question to you guys: Do you have any updates on this and could you please tell us more?

Thanks,
Bjoern

 

[Steve_ohhhhh]

I heard news today that the Thuraya service and therefore coverage for Australia will be completely discontinued. It says that it is not possible to recover the satellite that is currently down and the service will be discontinued.

I think this is important news for our members in Australia. But what is the current situation exactly?

@rtexpeditions You are a HAM and know your way around comms.
@Steve_ohhhhh You know the region very well.

So, hence the question to you guys: Do you have any updates on this and could you please tell us more?

Thanks,
Bjoern

Correct. Thuraya is no more for Australia. We still have 3 other providers currently as far as I'm aware (Iridium, Inmarsat and Globalstar) and soon enough Starlink will take over the world of satellite communications. I'm sure many people in rural and remote Australia will feel it's effects but there are options.

 

[El-Dracho]

Correct. Thuraya is no more for Australia. We still have 3 other providers currently as far as I'm aware (Iridium, Inmarsat and Globalstar) and soon enough Starlink will take over the world of satellite communications. I'm sure many people in rural and remote Australia will feel it's effects but there are options.

Thank you for your feedback, Steven. Yes, there are alternatives. What I like about Thuraya - for the regions where it has coverage - is the option of dual SIM phones, i.e. having a GSM SIM and satellite SIM in the phone at the same time. That is handy. Well, as you have already said, there are basically alternatives that travelers to Australia and local users now have to look for.