Building upon the success of "ThurayaLocate" service launched in August this year, two more location services based on Thuraya system have recently been launched by Geonix, a leading UK-based location services and equipment provider. ThurayaAssist and ThurayaRelay are new services that are deployed on the GPS feature built in Thuraya handsets.

Uniquely, every satellite phone developed for the Thuraya network contains an embedded GPS positioning system, and this is used - when initiated by the user - to report the handset's position to the Thuraya location service servers.

ThurayaAssist caters to corporate clients, NGOs and government organisations and is a fully manned and managed emergency position and response service available 24 hours a day and 365 days a year. With one call to the global control center, advice and assistance is initiated from specially trained security specialists, who are able to view the user's location from within 10 meters, anywhere on earth.

Consequently, routine position reports and emergency SMS messages can be relayed up to ten email addresses and mobile phone numbers of family, friends and loved ones to know where users of ThurayaAssist are.

Additionally, tailored security information and pre-trip briefings for all countries is provided with unlimited usage to members of the new service. ThurayaAssist is provided at a subscription cost of just $249.99 a year per handset.

ThurayaRelay is a service also for corporate clients, NGOs and government organisations that wish to have the relaying of routine and emergency position reports, but who wish to manage the response centre themselves. A full range of country and region security information continues to be available via access through the website. The cost for ThurayaRelay is $149.99 a year per handset.

Both services are only available on customer's demand and can be subscribed to online by logging onto www.ThurayaLocate.com, www.ThurayaAssist.com or www.ThurayaRelay.com. Moreover, subscribers can message Geonix on a specialised Thuraya number or contact Geonix directly. Alternatively, they can demand the service from their Thuraya SP. Thuraya Assist and ThurayaRelay are unique services that preserve the privacy rights of all users.

Dr Sven Rohte, Thuraya's Chief Commercial Officer, in announcing the service developments commented: "We are confident that these enhanced Thuraya location services will be a major step forward in aiding all our customers to report where they are and to have emergency services and travel security advice available to them at all times. Moreover, this is achieved without affecting their privacy.

"Thanks to the foresight of Thuraya from its inception, every mobile handset we have ever made contains a GPS positioning system - this is unique not only in the satellite world but in conventional GSM mobiles as well.

"We are delighted to be working more with Geonix, one of our independent third party developers, and believe today's announcement further reaffirms the strength of our third party developer programme."

David Bland, the Chief Executive of Geonix, commented: "We have been delightned by the success and user acceptance of the original ThurayaLocate service, which was recently designated in the top five new technologies available to Aid Agencies worldwide. These new services, developed in response to user feedback, enable us to provide a comprehensive answer to the security needs of the Thuraya customer base."