Thuraya satphone systems are DEAD in Australia - status, background and advice 

My remote-comms video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-F7-Dp4keGLk.html Pivotel links: www.pivotel.com.au/thuraya-network-closure www.pivotel.com.au/knowledge-base/faqs/thuraya-network-closure-faqs.html Pivotel have updated their FAQ sometime on the evening of 4th May, Melbourne time, after publication of this video, to state the T3 satellite had a life till 2031: "The operating status of the Thuraya 3 (T3) Satellite was reviewed in 2020 by the satellite manufacturer Boeing, on behalf of Thuraya, to determine its expected operational life. The review included analysis of the satellite’s subsystems and orbital parameters and Boeing concluded that T3 would continue to operate as designed until 2031. Thuraya’s satellite refresh planning intended to replace Thuraya 3 in advance of 2031. Based on this review neither Pivotel nor Thuraya could have reasonably anticipated the Force Majeure event that has occurred." Note that the original life of T3, Boeing 702, was 15 years so it failed just after its original life. This calls into question the validity of the engineering decision to extend the T3's life. And this statement from Pivotel ignores the fact that Force Majeure typically requires the event to be EXTERNAL to the parties involved. Also, failure of a satellite is not in my view an unforeseeable event. Satellites can and do fail, so failure is very much a possibility. I cannot see why they call this force majeure, but I am not a lawyer and not familiar with their contract. I did contact Pivotel before the closure of service was announced but they did not get back to me. If I get an update I will pass information on, but wanted to get the word out as a priority. I'm sure there is more to this story, and as Thuraya has been silent, it is hard to piece together what has happened.

Thanks for the thorough explanation Robert. I was going to buy a Thuraya handset later this year. I love your work !

As a very casual user of Thuraya, I couldn’t justify the changeover to Iridium knowing the $2k+ handset would likely be obsolete in a few years with Starlink handsets not far out so went the new low profile Gen 3 starlink for remote area comms to compliment my PLB for emergencies. I’ve never needed my Thuraya in anger so being able to not pay month to month for starlink means I will likely save money over the long term until the family start demanding I set it up at our remote camp sites…

"Unexpected payload anomaly" sounds like a technical term for trailer sway

A key point is the current Thuraya 2 (soon to be replaced by the newer Thuraya 4) services the key markets of Africa, Europe and the Middle East)....the vast majority of their revenue comes from these areas......so the dead Thuraya 3 is probably of little consequence to Yahsat (the owners of Thuraya). There is mention of the Thuraya 5 being built (by Airbus Industries) to eventually replace the dead Thuraya 3 but if that ever happens then it is probably 5 years away....what a mess. Maybe the Thuraya 3 got hit by a piece of space debris !

Thuraya did the sums and thought it wasn't worth the outlay to replace it because of the alternate satellite systems coming on line soon.

Hmmm - I seem to have a very expensive brick now...

Thank you for this fine piece of detective work. Looks like its time to dust off the ham radio again (HF when all else fails).

We were being pushed HARD into Thuraya - and we told them to bugger off. Lucky we did - because we have over 40 starlink-connected bases in Australia. We have HF radio backups for telemetry and emergencies.

Thanks Robert!

Might have helped if my provider told me the system was end of life when I purchased in 2019. Never worked well for me so glad I never needed it for an emergency. Handset was sent away for repair.

More satellites is better satellites. Quantity has a quality all it's own.

Yes contacted Thuraya in Dubai and was told in basically a brief one line message, wait for it. If you need any assistance CONTACT YOUR SERVICE PROVIDER. To me that means they have basically washed their hands of it. Personally if no compensation is offered I'd reckon a class action should be on the cards. I've made four calls with mine and with the protective cover still in place it faces the bin RUBBISH indeed it is.

Pivotel says that the updated expected life of the satellite from Boeing was 2031, so they planned a replacement in 5-7 years not now and basically can’t get another up anytime soon. Thuraya 4 is to replace Thuraya 2 needs to be replaced and is a more important market. Note you say Thuraya 2 insurance lapsed in December 2023, needs replacing but Thuraya 3 actually had a new eta of 2031. So either that was wrong or they suffered some sort of collision

I purchased my Thuraya headset because of the review & recommendation of Stephan Fischer ALLOFFROAD and only used it once…… what now?

its force majeure for Pivotel, Thuraya closed service in Australia for its own reasons and by its own decision. So Pivotel has no power or technical ways to overturn it, avoid it, substitute it or so. Like transport provider cancels its scheduled buses when bridge (owned and operated by its owner, bus operator only pays for this service) collapsed or closed for long repair, thus breaks its contract to end customers bus passengers, who bought season ticket and even moved home on the other side of river relying on this bus service.

This will affect Africa. As the customers will see what happened and how quick it happened. So new entrants will opt for another sat carrier. Those who are up for renewal should decide to drop thuraya and move to a more reliable carrier. Nothing like ruining your brand name and subsequently your business when it is driven by reliability reputation. The problem with Starlink is... We don't have it in ZA and i don't think it is coming soon with the political company operating requirements. Just my thoughts. Regards from South Africa.

Lucky i didn't buy one 3 months ago! :)

The top info section mentions Thuraya 2....I think it should mean Thuraya 3

Maybe you can't rely on SL, but it's better than nothing. Day to day comms over SL, and a PLB style device for emergencies. I don't think it will ne too long before SL sees an opportunity here, but I could be wrong.

There’s a lot of unqualified bush lawyers ripping into @Robert Pepper here. Heads up - Consumer Law is impotent outside Australia’s borders so forget any notion of getting anything out of Thuraya. All you’ll manage to do is destroy Pivotel meaning you have no compensation AND no Pivotel. Heads Thuraya wins, tails you lose. It’s the exact same situation as those with 3G mobile handsets and likely sometime, Holden Commodores. For the record, I’m also the proud owner of a fine price of Thuruta eWaste. I plan on waiting until Pivotel come up with a plan rather than getting a premature attack of the vapours.

I wonder if it was a cyber security incident. That's a third party event but just because it hasn't happened before doesn't mean it is unforeseen.

Stitch to iridium or Inmarsat

Thuraya, is the mobile satellite services subsidiary of the UAE-based Al Yah Satellite Communication company. Do you actually have anything official from Thuraya or the parent company which categorically states that the service will never come back?

I did have a pamphlet for another service which you can subscribe to, where you are provided with a receiver- transmitter device that works with any mobile phone to use it as a sat phone, from memory it seemed like a reasonable cost, more cost effective than regular sat phones. I forget the name of it, I don't know how good it is & I guess it is possible it utilized the Thuraya network, I dunno.

How effective would HF HAM be, just out of interest.

Latest from Pivotel is my phone may look great from the outside but is 9 year old technology? Funny given it's the same model and firmware as current Thuraya Lite? Talk about being baffled with bull.... 😡Also from Pivotel and I quote . Thuraya have made their intent clear that they intend to restore services within 12 months. But have apparently cancelled Pivotels contract so won't be with them 🤔

Contacted Thuraya direct to clarify the situation, it is clear they do not give a shit about you the customer and the loss of your equipment maybe a class action may have to be thought about.

Zoleo and Spot are selling out fast as a result.

Just get a mobile starlink system. If your dish can see the sky, itl work. Even in pretty heavy rain and cloud theres enough sats up there now that its awesome. My partner and I work remotely all over the place, both of our works bought a starlink mobile dishy setup. I eatch netflix in the middle of fking nowhere and its cheaper than any sat mobile plan.

Me too, business decision, perhaps 🤔

Glad i sold mine and got an inreach

That's terrible. I just bought a phone yesterday. 😡

Let’s get a class action going

It’s like our internet we get the shit service .

Interesting. Probably got hit by space trash.