Monday, August 31, 2009

Thaicom needs satellite during interim

       Thaicom Plc says it needs to lease a foreign satellite to continue services during the transition period between the scheduled expiry of its Thaicom 2 satellite next year and the replacement Thaicom 6 coming on line.
       A company executive outlined the scenario after the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) ministry said leasing a foreign satellite could breach the concession, which stipulates Thaicom must build new satellites as backups for others nearing the end of their service.
       He said Thaicom had planned to launch Thaicom 6, which has more than 20 transponders in both the C and Ku bands, to replace Thaicom 2.
       Building the new satellite and launching it would take at least three years,said the executive, who asked not to be named.
       However, the period could be shortened through buying a new satellite or acquiring an existing one and shifting it to Thaicom's orbit, which would take less than one year.
       He said that Thaicom 5 needed a year to fine-tune its antennae and launch into orbit.
       In any case, he said, there would be a transition period in which Thaicom could not service all its customers and would need to lease a satellite instead.But this does not preclude Thaicom from launching a new satellite under its con-cession during that period.
       Thaicom has leased transponders from Vina Sat of Vietnam to provide services to customers for several months to cope with demand, which now exceeds the potential of Thaicom 5(iPSTASR), which was fully used.
       He said Thaicom had sought advice from the ICT ministry on a lease but had received no reply.
       Thaicom previously leased a Malaysian satellite to provide services when its Thaicom 3 developed a power-supply problem and was de-orbited in 1995,and in 2003 it leased IntelSat for more than a year.
       The company's concession will expire in 12 years but Thaicom wants some clear direction now, as satellite contracts are long-term, some up to 10 years.
       Sue Lor-uthai, the ICT permanent secretary said the concession required Thaicom to build new satellites to back up old ones at least two years before the old units go out of service.
       He said leasing a foreign satellite to replace Thaicom 2 would breach the agreement.
       Thaicom has proposed to the ministry that if it has to build a new satellite, then it should be allowed to continue its local monopoly.
       That would require an amendment of the concession agreement and cabinet endorsement, he said.
       Shares of Thaicom (THCOM) closed on the SET at 7.50 baht, down 20 satang,in trade worth 37.6 million baht.

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