Lockheed takes 30% stake in Asia Cellular Satellite<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) announced on
\nTuesday the addition of the United States aerospace, defense and
\ntelecommunications giant Lockheed Martin Global
\nTelecommunications as a major equity participant in PT Asia
\nCellular Satellite (ACeS).<\/p>\n
ACeS president and chief executive officer Adi Rahman Adiwoso
\nsaid that the investment gave Lockheed Martin 30 percent
\nownership in PT ACeS, a joint venture company formed by PSN,
\nThailand's Jasmine International and the Philippines Long
\nDistance Telephone Company.<\/p>\n
PT ACeS is developing the ACeS system, a US$850 million mobile
\nsatellite telecommunications project which will begin operations
\nin the fall of 1999.<\/p>\n
Under the agreement, the three founding partners of ACeS will
\nretain a total 70 percent stake in the venture, led by PSN's 30.7
\npercent holdings.<\/p>\n
\"With the equity and financial commitment of Lockheed the ACeS
\nproject will be financially stronger and have significantly lower
\nleverage on its balance sheets,\" Adi said at a media briefing.<\/p>\n
Lockheed Martin has been working to develop the satellite
\ntelecommunications system since 1995. It provides the system's
\nsatellite gateways, ground-based processing and overall
\nengineering and integration systems.<\/p>\n
Adi said that in 1997, ACeS signed an underwriting agreement
\nwith PT Danareksa Finance to raise $250 million through a
\nsyndicated loan to finance the entire project.<\/p>\n
Around $140 million of the loan was disbursed by Danareksa and
\nfive local banks; Bank International Indonesia, Bank Danamon,
\nBank Panin, Bank Niaga and the now liquidated Bank PDFCI.<\/p>\n
\"However, due to the country's ailing economy, which hit the
\nbanking sector especially hard, those banks were not able to
\nprovide the rest of the loans, so we had to recapitalize our
\nproject and look for a new partner,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Adi said that ACeS had secured $210 million in stockholders'
\nequity, which, with the equity addition from Lockheed, will bring
\nACeS paid-up capital to $372 million.<\/p>\n
Adi also said that the project was running smoothly and on
\nschedule.<\/p>\n
\"We will launch the Garuda-1 satellite in late May or early
\nJune from Kazakhstan, and we will start our commercial services
\nby the end of this year. The satellite is now undergoing final
\ntesting, the ground segment is nearing completion and gateways in
\nIndonesia, the Philippines and Thailand are under construction,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
\"We are also beginning construction of the Garuda-2 satellite,
\nwhich will initially serve as a backup satellite and then will be
\nused to expand the system.\"<\/p>\n
Through ACeS's Garuda-1 satellite, the system will be able to
\nprovide voice, facsimile and data services covering an area from
\nIndia in the west to Indochina in the east, and from China in the
\nnorth to Southeast Asia in the south.<\/p>\n
Adi said that the company's goal was to provide links between
\ncellular telephone networks and the existing fixed-lines in
\nseveral Asian countries, including Bangladesh, Brunei, Myanmar,
\nChina, Indonesia, Hong Kong, India, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia,
\nthe Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.<\/p>\n
With the operation covering most of Asia, any person with a
\nhand held device will be able to directly communicate with
\nanother person carrying a similar device within the satellite
\ncoverage area through ground station gateways and normal public
\nswitch telephone networks, or with any person with a cellular or
\nfixed telephone anywhere in the world.<\/p>\n
The project claims to be simpler and cheaper than other
\nsatellite-based cellular telecommunications projects, such as the
\nICO of Inmarsat, Iridium, Globalstar, Odyssey and Teledesic.<\/p>\n
\"It is simpler and cheaper because ACeS will focus on
\nregional, not global, coverage. For example, our national service
\nproviders will offer retail service rates of $1.00 per minute,
\nwhile our competitors offer rates of $3.00 to $7.00 per minute,\"
\nAdi said.<\/p>\n
\"We have set a target of serving 2 million customers by 2003,\"
\nhe added.<\/p>\n
The ACeS system is based on the Global System for Mobile
\nCommunications standard and will employ dual-mode handsets (ACeS-
\nGSM and ACeS-AMPS). The handset's contract was awarded to
\nEricsson of Sweden in September 1996.<\/p>\n
The contract with Ericsson is not, however, exclusive.<\/p>\n
\"For the first stage we picked Ericsson to provide 250,000
\ndual-mode handsets worth $225 million. But there is no
\nexclusivity to the contract. We are free to order handsets from
\nany cellular phone producer as long as they meet our technology
\nstandards,\" he said. (gis)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/lockheed-takes-30-stake-in-asia-cellular-satellite-1447893297",
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