I have a friend working in Myanmar on a post-cyclone relief project. They are in a remote area and want to set up a satellite internet connection for communications. Buying the gear in Myanmar is horribly slow and prohibitively expensive. They can't afford to wait so they would like to import their own gear from Thailand and get started ASAP. Question is:

* Is it possible to set up (say) an IPSTAR account in Thailand and use it in Myanmar (Ayeyarwady Delta region), or is it out of the satellite footprint?

* Are there any other reasonably affordable and mobile satellite systems available?

(Yes they have permission from the government).

We use the BGAN system. This uses an Inmarsat satellite and is available from several providers in Bangkok and Singapore. There are a lot of different plans available, depending on your expected voice and data usage. I would certainly not call any of them cheap but they are portable.

Edited August 28, 200817 yr by Boksida

I think you simply are not allowed to use such equipment, and could end up in trouble trying to bring the equipment in.

iPSTAR will work over there, you are well within the footprint, but AFAIK Myanmar has their own transponders which get routed through their own gateways.

Better PM member Phazey , I think he can give you a bit more info!