Cabinet Gives Its Backing To Maintain Satellite Orbital Slot With Thaicom

Cabinet gives its backing to maintain satellite orbital slot with Thaicom

By Usanee Mongkolporn

The Nation

The Cabinet yesterday approved an ICT Ministry proposal to maintain Thailand's right to reserve a position in the sky for a satellite, called the 120 degrees east orbital slot, in collaboration with Thaicom.

However, it remains to be seen whether the country can hold on to the spot.

ICT Minister Anudith Nakornthap said that the Cabinet gave its approval for Thaicom to seek a satellite to place in the slot before the country's right to the position ends with the International Telecom Union (ITU) in November.

The Cabinet also asked the ministry to determine whether the planned satellite could be used commercially. The ministry will also consult the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) and the ITU in an effort to prevent possible satellite-signal jamming between the planned satellite and other adjacent satellites.

The ICT Ministry also plans to consider launching a new satellite to the 120 degrees east orbital slot sometime after 2015.

As part of a plan to maintain Thailand's reservation of the satellite position, Thaicom has reportedly reached a preliminary agreement on partnership with Hong Kong satellite operator Asia Satellite Telecommunications (AsiaSat) to jointly provide services on the planned satellite.

AsiaSat will reportedly launch a satellite to the 120-degree slot in December. It was originally planning to place it in a 105.5 degrees east slot in 2014.

An ICT Ministry source said yesterday that there were some obstacles that could derail the Thaicom move. If Thaicom is really planning a joint service with AsiaSat from a planned satellite in the 120 degrees east orbital slot, this might require approval from Parliament, which might or might not be forthcoming.

Moreover, Thaicom still needs a licence from the NBTC to operate the planned satellite, and the NBTC has not yet begun operating.

Thaicom, which is also planning to launch a Thaicom 6 satellite into the 78.5-degrees East slot by 2013, has no choice but to hold discussions with AsiaSat every time it wants to do anything in the 120-degrees East slot.

The story goes back to 1993, when Thaicom launched the Thaicom 1 satellite into the 120-degrees East slot, while AsiaSat was about to launch a satellite into the adjacent 122-degrees East slot.

Fearing a possible satellite-signal jam, Thailand and Hong Kong held talks to seek a solution, which resulted in an agreement that Thailand could use the 120-degrees slot, but would have to coordinate with Hong Kong whenever it launched a new satellite into the slot.

Thailand has six orbital slots reserved from the ITU - 50.5 degrees east longitude, 78.5 degrees east, 119.5 degrees east, 126 degrees east, and 142 degrees east, as well as 120 degrees east.

A telecom-industry source yesterday questioned Thailand's need for so many orbital slots. However, it is understood that the government must try to maintain its hold on the slots or face possible criticism for failing to protect the national interest.

-- The Nation 2011-09-21