Thuraya and Dubai Police Launch Thuraya SOS Service

New service enables Thuraya XT satellite phone users to share GPS coordinates during times of distress or emergency

Dubai, United Arab Emirates - Sunday, November 23rd 2014 [ME NewsWire]

Thuraya Telecommunications Company, a leading Mobile Satellite Services (MSS) operator and the Dubai Police today announced the launch of the Thuraya SOS service. With immediate effect, Thuraya XT users in the region can send a pre-programmed SMS with their GPS coordinates to the Dubai Police in times of distress or emergency. The service is crucial for users who are lost or require emergency care when in remote areas such as the desert or at sea with limited or no connectivity.

Major General Khamis Mutar Khamis Al Muzainah, Commander-in-chief of Dubai Police said, “The Dubai Police is committed to enhancing our services to ensure the highest level of protection of our people. The launch of the Thuraya SOS service demonstrates our commitment to leverage innovative and reliable technology to ensure the safety and protection of our residents. Our collaboration with Thuraya has enabled us to save the lives of many people who were lost or required emergency care in remote areas. Although the UAE is a highly connected nation, people still need to be aware that there will always be areas such as the desert and the sea that do not have mobile connectivity. When travelling in such areas, having a Thuraya XT can save their lives if they encounter any emergency.”

Amal Ezzeddine, Director of Government Services at Thuraya said, “Our collaboration with the Dubai Police demonstrates Thuraya’s commitment to saving and improving the lives of our users. This is the first time that we are launching such a service with local authorities.

We attribute the launch of the service to the Dubai Police and their engineers who have been working closely with us to refine the application and integrate the two systems so that we can launch it for Thuraya XT users in the UAE.”

Thuraya XT users can program up to four emergency contact numbers, including 1199, the emergency number of the Dubai Police in the Thuraya SOS application. To activate, press the soft key on the right side of the Thuraya XT keypad, hold for two seconds and GPS coordinates will be sent to Thuraya’s Primary Gateway office and the Dubai Police.

Contacts

Thuraya

Shereen Hanafi, Director of Communications,

+971-4-4488-888

corporatecomms@thuraya.com