Myanmar aims to launch its own satellite in five years through an open tender as the government prepares take the next step in developing its ICT industry. Speaking at the recent CommuniCast Myanmar conference, U Thaung Tin, deputy minister for…
Myanmar aims to launch its own satellite in five years through an open tender as the government prepares take the next step in developing its ICT industry.
Speaking at the recent CommuniCast Myanmar conference, U Thaung Tin, deputy minister for Myanmar’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, said: “There is a natural desire for all countries to have their own satellite. We would like to acquire bandwidth first, then a condosat”, and after a “transparent partner selection process… the long-term plan is a national satellite. We would like to start the process as soon as possible.”
He added: “Although there is no timeline for the launch of a satellite, the selection process will follow that of the international mobile licences, with an open, fair and transparent tendering process, followed by public consultation.”
The plan comes a year after Norway’s Telenor and Qatar-based Ooredoo were awarded mobile licences in the country’s first competitive 3G spectrum auction.
Singaporean telecoms giant Singtel was also in the running for the mobile licence last year, and it had invited the recently democratised government to conduct a feasibility study for a dedicated satellite as part of its, ultimately unsuccessful, bid.
Notably, Singtel’s Australian unit Optus was among the international satellite operators, manufacturers and launch providers that attended Myanmar’s satellite conference last month, along with APT Satellite, Air Mandalay, Arianespace, AsiaSat, Comsys, Eutelsat, Hughes, MHI Launch Services, Marsh, Newtec, O3B Networks, SES, Speedcast and Thales Alenia Space.
Telenor and Ooredoo also own satellite assets elsewhere. Their terrestrial mobile launches come as Myanmar’s government sets a goal to increase the teledensity of the country from around 20% to 75% in the financial year 2015/2016.
Separately, Russian technology provider GS Group recently said it had secured an undisclosed partner in Myanmar to launch what would be the country’s first mass satellite pay-TV platform.
Further details about the deal, which would follow similar DTH ventures that GS Group has launched in Bangladesh and Cambodia, are expected in the coming weeks.
Myanmar currently has two DTH television platforms: Myanmar Radio and Television 4 (MRTV-4), the state-owned broadcaster that was launched in 2004; and Skynet, which launched in November 2010 and is owned by Shwe Than Lwin Media Co.
Speaking at the Myanmar Satellite Forum, Tint Lwin, chairman of the Skynet group, said his company alone leases close to 10 transponders at a cost of US$12m per year. This was enough that the company is considering its own satellite system.
