On 5 August,, Yahsat (Al Yah Satellite Communications Company) announced that they had completed their purchase of a majority and controlling stake in fellow Emirati-satellite operator Thuraya. Following the conclusion of the deal, the incumbent CEO of Thuraya, Mr Ahmed Al Shamsi was replaced in his post by Mr Ali Al Hashemi, who is concurrently the Head of Yahsat’s Government Solutions division. Additionally, the current Yahsat CTO, Mr Marcus Vilaca, has been given a second role as CTO of Thuraya.
Thuraya’s two satellite fleet – THURAYA 2 and 3 – providing L-band based mobile communications services will be integrated into Yahsat’s three sat (plus one hosted payload) strong fleet. This will enable Yahsat to provide mobile and fixed services across Europe, Africa, the Middle East, South America and Asia in the L-, C-, Ku- and Ka-bands.
