Shin Satellite beams into new territory

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Shin Satellite's iPSTAR, the world's largest broadband satellite, went into full commercial service yesterday with the formal transfer of the satellite's gateway to TOT. The satellite, which launched in August, will also be handed over to the Information and Communication Technology Ministry under Shin Satellite's concession with TOT.

Dumrong Kasemset, the company's executive chairman, said the company expected to book at least one billion baht worth in revenue from iPSTAR, also known as Thaicom 4, this year.

By 2006, the satellite, offering broadband to a potential audience of five million, should account for around half of Shin Satellite's revenue. The company posted first-half profits of 783.3 million baht on revenue of 4.05 billion, and is well on track to beat last year's profits of 856.1 million baht on revenue of 5.56 billion.

He said the transfer to TOT, the service operator for iPSTAR in Thailand, signified the start commercial operations.

The 15-billion-baht iPSTAR satellite has a ''footprint'' covering 14 countries and a bandwidth capacity of 45 gigabits per second, higher than 1-2 Gbps broadband capacity of conventional satellites.

Shin Satellite plans to offer broadband Internet services for around 1,000 baht per month, a sharp reduction from 10,000 baht per month fees charged for services using first generation satellites.

Dr Dumrong said the company expected to count 300,000 Thais among its subscribers by next year, with half captured by TOT and the remainder from others like Samart, Acumen, CAT Telecom, Hatari and CS Communications.

Before the iPSTAR launch, Shin Satellite marketed the system's transmission technology using the existing Thaicom 1 and 2 satellites, with around 25,000 subscribers worldwide, including 15,000 in Thailand.

Dr Dumrong said other gateways would be opened in Vietnam, Burma, Australia and New Zealand by the end of the year, with services beginning in India and China sometime in mid-2006.

Shares of Shin Satellite (SATTEL) closed yesterday on the SET at 14.90 baht, up 20 satang, in trade worth 27.2 million baht.

Source: Bangkok Post

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