Thuraya has advised Pivotel that the Thuraya 3 (T3) satellite has suffered a sustained Force Majeure event that has caused an ongoing outage of both voice and packet data services which prevents Thuraya from providing services in Australia for the foreseeable future.

Thuraya has subsequently terminated the Service Provider Agreement with Pivotel, with immediate effect, applying the Force Majeure provisions of that Agreement.

As a result of the sustained Force Majeure event, and the Termination of the Service Provider Agreement, Pivotel is unable to continue to supply Thuraya services.

Billing Suspended, backdated to April 15

All active Pivotel Thuraya services have been suspended and temporarily migrated to a $0 package prior to being deactivated at a future time. For billing purposes, the suspensions and migrations will be backdated to 15th April 2024, the day before the outage commenced. Your next bill will show a credit for any fees that were charged in advance for access to the service after April 15th.

We are very disappointed by this situation, and we understand that you will be too. We know that our customers rely on Pivotel’s satellite phone and data services for critical communications. While the cause of the satellite failure is completely outside of Pivotel’s control, and the termination of the Thuraya Service Provider Agreement is unavoidable, we are working hard to put together a selection of special offers to enable our Thuraya users to move to another satellite phone network and we will email you with the special offers available to you in the coming days.

Mobile Numbers Reserved for 6 months

If you had an active Thuraya service, we will reserve the mobile number(s) associated with your Thuraya service(s) for up to 6 months, unless the service is disconnected earlier, so you will be able to move to another Pivotel satellite phone, and another satellite service, and use the same mobile number(s) that you used previously. You will also be able to call into the voicemail platform to access any voicemail messages that may be left for you.

Under the offers, customers who purchased a Thuraya terminal that was imported and distributed by Pivotel may qualify for a full or partial refund, or a credit against a new handset, depending on the age of the terminal. Proof of Purchase will be required.

Many customers may have purchased a terminal from a supplier that did not acquire the terminal from Pivotel. Upon receiving the details of the Pivotel offers we recommend you make contact with your supplier to determine if you may be eligible for a Pivotel refund or credit.

This is a major unplanned event and is likely to impact on call answering times in the Pivotel Customer Care team. We will keep the Pivotel Thuraya FAQ page up to date and we request you check that page for current information.

We appreciate your patience and understanding during this challenging situation. We do value your business and our efforts to secure options for you to quickly migrate to an alternative satellite service is our highest priority.

Please refer to the online Pivotel Thuraya Network Closure FAQ page for further information.