The Thai Cabinet has approved a plan by the Information and Communication Technology Ministry (MICT) to retain rights to two orbital slots, according to local reports.
The ministry is allegedly looking to award a concession, under the public-private…
The Thai Cabinet has approved a plan by the Information and Communication Technology Ministry (MICT) to retain rights to two orbital slots, according to local reports.
The ministry is allegedly looking to award a concession, under the public-private joint venture Act, to launch a new satellite at 50.5E, which is currently vacant. Thaicom will reportedly be the first company to be asked whether it wants to launch a satellite at this position. The satellite company used to operate Thaicom-3 in this slot but in 2006 the bird was de-orbited after experiencing power loss. Thaicom-2 was then moved from 78.5E to 50.5E in mid-2010 in order to avoid losing rights on the position but the satellite was de-orbited in October after reaching the end of its life.
In an email to SatelliteFinance, Thaicom wrote that it has not been contacted by the MICT yet, but would be happy to work with them on a satellite project. However, the company also highlighted uncertainties overshadowing the award process, explaining that under the new Frequency Allocation Act, expected to be enforced sometime this year, the MICT will allegedly no longer be entitled to grant satellite concessions.
Instead, companies interested in operating satellites will need to apply to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), to be formed in the next few months, in order to obtain a licence, Thaicom added.
According to local reports, the ministry is also seeking to ask state-owned telco CAT Telecom to conduct a feasibility test for the launch of a bird at 120E. The position was previously held by Thaicom-1A but the satellite was decommissioned in the first half of 2010 after its lifespan expired. By asking CAT to build a satellite, the government is reportedly looking to create competition in the Thai satellite industry, which is currently only populated by Thaicom.
In June last year, the Cabinet reportedly requested the MICT and its Council of State to investigate legal channels for the revocation of Thaicom’s concession to operate satellites.
At the time, the then Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban argued that the company failed to comply with the government’s request that it cease broadcasts of PTV, a channel that supports the anti-government Red Shirt movement that fought a series of running clashes with the authorities last year. About a month later, in July 2010, the government aggressively signalled its intention to buy Thaicom from Singapore-based Temasek Holdings. No deal has been announced as of yet.
If the Thai government fails to occupy the 50.5E and 120.5E slots (which could cover Australasia, the Middle East and Africa) by January 2012 and October 2012, respectively, it will lose its rights on them.
According to The Nation, the country is concerned that other countries may seek to be assigned those vacant orbital spaces. Overall, Thailand has six slots registered with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), of which two are currently occupied by Thaicom’s birds – 78.5E and 119.5E.
As for the two remaining unoccupied positions, 126E and 142E, the newspaper explains that the ministry has sent a request to the ITU to have its rights extended until 2013 and 2012 respectively.
At the beginning of March this year, Thaicom released its financial results for 2010, posting revenues of Bt6.7bn (US$221m), down Bt488m (US$16m) compared with 2009, blaming a revenue drop from telephone services. But Thaicom said it posted a 38% increase in satellite IPSTAR’s revenues to Bt1.63bn (US$54m). Revenues from Thaicom-4 satellite were up 8.9% to Bt2.36bn (US$78m). For 2010, Thaicom reported EBIDTA of Bt1.98bn (US$65m) and a net loss of Bt789m (US$26m).
