Asia Cellular Satellite project runs smoothly<\/p>\n
By I Christianto<\/p>\n
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pennsylvania (JP): The Asia Cellular
\nSatellite (ACeS) system, a mobile satellite telecommunications
\nproject of the Indonesia-based PT ACeS, will operate in the
\nsecond quarter of 1999, according to the system contractor.<\/p>\n
Aerospace, defense and telecommunications giant Lockheed
\nMartin of the United States said Saturday that its Management and
\nData System (MDS) in Valley Forge, King of Prussia, was working
\non a program development for the ground segment of the ACeS
\nsystem.<\/p>\n
\"It's running on schedule and is going very well. We have some
\nissues that are going to work normally, also tests and other
\nissues,\" said Lockheed Martin's vice president of communication
\nsystems, Michael Barbee.<\/p>\n
Lockheed Martin has developed the US$700 million mobile
\ngeostationary satellite system since 1995. MDS is providing the
\nsystem's satellite gateways, ground-based processing and overall
\nsystem on engineering and integration.<\/p>\n
Indonesian Minister of Tourism, Post and Telecommunications
\nJoop Ave is scheduled to inspect ACeS's development projects at
\nsome Lockheed Martin facilities later this week.<\/p>\n
Through ACeS's satellite, named Garuda, the system will be
\nable to provide voice, facsimile and data services covering an
\narea from India in the west to Indochina in the east and from
\nChina in the north to members of the Association of Southeast
\nAsian Nations (ASEAN) in the south.<\/p>\n
First system<\/p>\n
ACeS president, Adi Rahman Adiwoso, said the company aimed to
\nprovide links between cellular telephone networks and the
\nexisting fixed-lines in several Asian countries including
\nBangladesh, Brunei, Burma, China, Indonesia, Hong Kong, India,
\nJapan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan,
\nThailand and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
With the operation covering the most important regions in
\nAsia, any person with a handheld device will be able to directly
\ncommunicate with another person carrying a similar device within
\nthe satellite coverage through ground station gateways and normal
\npublic switch telephone networks, or with any person with a
\ncellular or normal fixed telephone anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n
The project is claimed to be simpler and cheaper than other
\nsatellite-based cellular telecommunications projects like the ICO
\nof Inmarsat, Iridium, Globalstar, Odyssey or Teledesic.<\/p>\n
\"This is because ACeS will focus on regional, not global,
\ncoverage,\" Adiwoso said.<\/p>\n
Adiwoso said the ACeS project, purely initiated by Asian
\nnations, would be the first system of its kind in the world.<\/p>\n
\"We're already a couple of years ahead compared to other
\nsystems like the Asia-Pacific Mobile Telecommunications (APMT) of
\nSingapore and China or the Afro-Asian satellite system,\" he said.<\/p>\n
PT ACeS is equally owned by PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN)
\nof Indonesia, Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT) of the
\nPhilippines and Jasmine International of Thailand.<\/p>\n
Fully funded<\/p>\n
The project began in 1992 when \"we were looking for a
\ntechnical solution on how a satellite network can cover the areas
\nuncovered by the cellular network,\" Adiwoso said.<\/p>\n
He said a geosynchronous satellite system was then selected.<\/p>\n
\"The government filed in 1993 the orbital slots for four
\nGaruda satellites at the International Telecommunications Union,\"
\nhe said, adding the first satellite will be launched next year by
\nIntegrated Launch Services (ILS), a joint venture between
\nLockheed and Krunichev Energia, on a Proton rocket.<\/p>\n
He said ACeS was fully funded with some loan syndications from
\nseveral banks and financial institutions.<\/p>\n
ACeS has signed an underwriting agreement with PT Danareksa
\nFinance to raise $250 million in loans to finance the entire
\nproject.<\/p>\n
It has secured $210 million in stockholders' equity and
\nanother $210 million in loans from stockholders.<\/p>\n
The ACeS system is based on a Global System for Mobile
\nCommunications (GSM) standard and will apply dual-mode handsets
\n(ACeS-GSM and ACeS-AMPS). The handset's contract was awarded in
\nSeptember 1996 to Ericsson of Sweden.<\/p>\n
Ericsson's development manager for satellite phones, Richard
\nE. Weiss, said there was no exclusivity for the contract but for
\na standard product.<\/p>\n
He said ACeS is free to order handsets from other firms.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/asia-cellular-satellite-project-runs-smoothly-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }