Thuraya Partners with T-Mobile to Launch Roaming Service in USA
Thuraya Telecommunications Company has launched its roaming service in the United States of America in partnership with the American mobile operator, T-Mobile. The service, which commenced on July 12, allows Thuraya subscribers to roam seamlessly with their Thuraya mobile numbers into the T-Mobile network that reaches 96 percent of Americans. Thuraya customers in the region can now make and receive calls, and also send and receive text messages (SMS). The Company’s GmPRS roaming service will be enabled afterwards on the T-Mobile network. Mr. Tarek Shqairat, Director of Inter-Carrier Relations, Thuraya Telecommunications Company, said: “With more than 350 roaming partners worldwide, Thuraya is the only satellite operator offering roaming services over GSM networks.
Reprieve Expected to Aid Telstra's Offshore Issues
Now that British Telecommunications' jumbo $10 billion global bond issue is out of the way, Australian Telstra's offshore issues, clear losers in recent sessions, can expect a slight reprieve, analysts said on Wednesday. But while their spreads were unlikely to narrow much near-term, buying opportunities were emerging for medium to longer term investors, said National Australia Bank's senior analyst Phillip Strano. Telstra's offshore issues not only offered considerable margin pick-up over comparable domestic issues, but also superior credit protection over many of its European counterparts, Strano said. For example, the telco's U.S. dollar issue due 2005 was trading at around 80 basis points over swap while its domestic 2006 issue was trading at some 50 basis points.
