Indonesia enters new era in satellite industry<\/p>\n
European consortium Arianespace invited The Jakarta Post's
\neditorial staff member Ardimas Sasdi for a visit to its
\nfacilities in Kourou, French Guiana, and its supporting
\nindustries near Paris. Arianespace's launcher Ariane4 is
\nscheduled to launch Indonesia's Palapa C2 satellite on May 15.
\nThese are the three articles about the nine-day whirlwind visit.<\/p>\n
PARIS (JP): The launching of Palapa C2, the third generation
\nof Indonesian telecommunications satellites, from Kourou in
\nFrench Guiana on May 15, marks a new era in the country's
\ntelecommunications industry.<\/p>\n
For Indonesia, a vast archipelagic country with over 190
\nmillion people, the launching of its ninth satellite not only
\nunderlines its progress in the telecommunications sector, but
\nalso reflects its continued preoccupation with unifying the
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
From the beginning, Palapa was aimed at bridging the gaps
\nbetween the islands in the Indonesian archipelago. Indonesia,
\nwith more than 17,000 islands sprawling from Aceh in the west to
\nMerauke, Irian Jaya in the east, clearly requires a high
\nperformance satellite to enhance communication.<\/p>\n
The grand mission was reflected in PT Satelindo's motto of
\n\"Unity in Diversity.\"<\/p>\n
PT Satelindo, the owner and operator of the Palapa C series
\nsatellite, is a consortium established on Jan. 29, 1993 as a
\npartnership of two state-owned companies, PT Telekomunikasi
\nIndonesia (Telkom) and PT Indosat, and privately owned PT
\nBimagraha Telekomindo.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's entry into the satellite-based telecommunications
\nsector dates back to the historic moment 27 years ago when
\nPresident Soeharto inaugurated the operation of telecoms
\ntechnology using a satellite belonging to the International
\nTelecommunications Satellite Organization (Intelsat) on Sept. 27,
\n1969.<\/p>\n
Seven years later, on July 9, 1976, Indonesia launched its
\nfirst own satellite, Palapa A1, from Cape Canaveral, USA.<\/p>\n
Currently Indonesia is running three of the eight orbiters it
\nhas launched, the Palapa B2R, Palapa B4 and Palapa C1, with a
\ncombined capacity of around 80 solar-powered transponders.<\/p>\n
Both the earlier Palapa B and the Palapa A generation
\nsatellites, manufactured by Hughes Space and Communications
\nCompany of the United States, are still in operation by PT
\nTelkom.<\/p>\n
Designed as a backup for Palapa C1, Palapa C2 is scheduled to
\nblast off into orbit on board the European Ariane 4 rocket from
\nKourou in French Guiana this week together with Amos, a
\ncommunications satellite owned by the Israeli Aircraft Industry.<\/p>\n
The Palapa C series have better coverage, more power and
\ngreater flexibility than the Palapa A and Palapa B models. They
\nhave 34 transponders, while the Palapa B series has only 24 and
\nPalapa A series a mere 12. The Palapa C satellites also have a
\nlonger lifespan of about 14 years (plus two years in inclined
\norbit).<\/p>\n
The new satellite will cover Indonesia, Southeast Asia, parts
\nof China, India and Japan. With the Pacific Rim as its center,
\nthe coverage of Palapa C2 will extend westward from Iran to
\nVladivostok and southward to Sydney in Australia and New Zealand.<\/p>\n
PT Satelindo has spent around $190 million on Palapa C1.<\/p>\n
No figures are available on how much the consortium invested
\nin Palapa C2 but Arianespace's sales and marketing director,
\nPhilippe Berterottiere, said the Indonesian company spent $83.5
\nmillion on the launch alone.<\/p>\n
Satelindo's general manager for marketing, Retno Setyowati
\nRenggana, told a media workshop for journalists covering the
\nprelaunch of Palapa C2 late last month that prospects in the
\ntelecommunications satellite business are quite bright.<\/p>\n
Retno said that so far 90 percent of Palapa C1's transponders
\nhave been sold.<\/p>\n
Some prospective clients, Retno said, have expressed interest
\nin leasing satellite transponders from Palapa C2: \"We are now
\nwaiting for them to sign on the dotted line.\"<\/p>\n
The subscribers to Palapa C1, many of them former lessees of
\nthe Palapa B2P satellite, are domestic and foreign broadcasters
\nsuch as CNN, the ESPN sports station, entertainment networks HBO,
\nViacom and Discovery, Asia Business News, NBC Asia and Canal
\nFrance International as well as users from Australia, Brunei,
\nMalaysia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's state-owned television network, Televisi Republik
\nIndonesia (TVRI), the country's five private television networks
\nand the Ministry of Defense and Security are also on the list.<\/p>\n
Targeting a wider market, Satelindo expects telecommunications
\nfirms and providers to lease the Palapa C2 for its derivative
\nservices of data, voice, image and video transmissions.<\/p>\n
The digital compression television system, the next wave in
\ntechnology, is also the target market of the consortium.<\/p>\n
Setting lower leasing fees is a stratagem adopted by Satelindo
\nto lure new customers. The company charges leasing fees of
\nbetween US$1.6 million and $3 million per annum for one
\ntransponder to Palapa C1's 26 lessees, while leasing fees in
\ninternational markets currently range between $2 million and $4
\nmillion per year for one transponder.<\/p>\n
With estimated earnings of US$60 million per year, on the
\nassumption that all of the 30 C-band transponders are leased
\nunder long-term contracts, PT Satelindo as the operator expects
\nto make considerable profits in this lucrative but risky
\nbusiness.<\/p>\n
The consortium's profits are projected to increase further
\nwhen the government's plan to raise leasing fees of solar-power
\ntransponder goes into effect.<\/p>\n
As a private company, PT Satelindo is designed to be highly
\ncompetitive, and to represent Indonesia internationally.<\/p>\n
Satelindo will face home-grown competition from Indostar,
\nanother Indonesian consortium with a permit from the government
\nto operate satellites in the spirit of market reforms. Indostar
\nplans to launch a satellite early next year to provide direct
\nbroadcast television services for the Indonesian archipelago and
\nAsian nations.<\/p>\n
But fiercer rivalry is expected to come from regional and
\ninternational satellite operators, such as Intelsat, AsiaSat,
\nApstar, Panamsat, Optus, JCsat, Columbia and Mabuhay, the major
\nplayers in the regional market for broadcasting.<\/p>\n
The restrictive regulations imposed by some countries, like
\nMalaysia - a newcomer in the satellite business-- requiring
\ndomestic companies to use telecommunications power from their
\nsatellite, is another problem faced by Indonesian satellite
\noperators.<\/p>\n
\"We lost some clients in Malaysia because of Kuala Lumpur's
\npolicy requiring domestic companies to use the Measat satellite,\"
\nRetno acknowledged.<\/p>\n
Tough rivalry in the telecommunication satellite industry is
\nunavoidable as more countries launch their own satellites;
\ndomestic telecommunications operators must anticipate this, she
\nargued.<\/p>\n
\"There is no choice but to fight if we want to survive. And
\nthankfully we have experience and know-how in this business,\"
\nRetno said.<\/p>\n
A French expert also acknowledged that Indonesia has the edge
\nin know-how. \"I've been working with private companies for 20 of
\nmy 27 years in this career,\" Louk Jurgens, deputy director of PT
\nSatelindo told Asiaweek. \"I wouldn't be here if I didn't believe
\nthis country was a winner\".<\/p>\n
The number of satellite operators in the Asia-Pacific region
\nhas increased significantly in the last few years.<\/p>\n
By early next year, there will be 1,680 communications
\nsatellite transponders available in the Asia-Pacific region, and
\nthis figure is forecast to reach 2,360 in 2000.<\/p>\n
But the demand for solar-powered transponders is also
\nprojected to increase as more users look for additional
\ntransponders and more efficient digital compression.<\/p>",
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