Philippine firm acquires aging Palapa satellite<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Mabuhay Philippines Satellite Corporation, a
\nsatellite operator from the Philippines, has sign an agreement
\nwith the publicly-listed PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara of
\nIndonesia to acquire the latter's aging Palapa-B2P satellite.<\/p>\n
A manager of Pasifik Satelit, Ron Pirolo, told The Jakarta
\nPost yesterday that the agreement for the satellite acquisition
\nwas signed last Thursday.<\/p>\n
He declined to reveal the cost of the deal. He was unable as
\nwell to provide information about the expected lifetime of the
\naging satellite, and at which orbit the inclined satellite will
\noperate.<\/p>\n
The Palapa-B2P satellite, the fourth of Indonesia's eight
\ncommunications spacecraft, was previously operated by the state-
\nowned domestic telecommunications provider, PT Telkom.<\/p>\n
The satellite -- of the HS-376 type, with 24 transponders --
\nwas manufactured by the Hughes Space and Communications Company
\nof the United States. It was launched in March 1987 from Cape
\nCanaveral. The spacecraft, previously orbiting at the 113 degree
\neast longitude, was taken out of service by Telkom last March.<\/p>\n
Normally, satellites of the Palapa-B series operate in the C-
\nband, receiving from 5.92 gigahertz to 6.41 GHz and transmitting
\nfrom 3.7 GHz to 4.4 GHz. The satellites use 10-watt traveling-
\nwave tube amplifiers.<\/p>\n
Pasifik Satelit, partly owned by Telkom, formerly planned to
\noperate the Palapa-B2P satellite.<\/p>\n
Mabuhay's president, Cesar Reyes, said that the Palapa-B2P --
\nto be renamed \"Mabuhay\" -- will begin serving broadcasting and
\ntelecommunications customers in the Philippines in advance of the
\nlaunch of his company's satellite early next year.<\/p>\n
Satelindo<\/p>\n
Mabuhay is a consortium consisting of the Philippines Long
\nDistance Telephone Co. of the Philippines, Pasifik Satelit and
\nEverbright Group of China.<\/p>\n
Philippines Long Distance Telephone was the first customer of
\nPasifik Satelit in 1992.<\/p>\n
Pasifik Satelit, which floated part of its common shares on
\nthe Nasdaq Capital Market in the United States recently, owns six
\ntransponders on each of the 34-transponder Palapa-C1 and Palapa-
\nC2 satellites currently operated by PT Satelindo. It will own six
\ntransponders on the Mabuhay satellite, to be launched in
\nDecember.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Satelindo announced yesterday that the lessees of
\nthe Palapa-C1 satellite have successfully shifted to the Palapa-
\nC2 satellite.<\/p>\n
Satelindo is the owner and operator of both the Palapa-C1 and
\nPalapa-C2 satellites, which have been prepared to replace the
\noperation of the satellites of the Palapa-B generation.<\/p>\n
A Satelindo spokesman, Eddy Thoyib, told the Post that due to
\nan anomaly on the Palapa-C1's battery discharge control, the
\nPalapa-C2 has replaced it at 113 degrees east longitude.
\nMeanwhile, Palapa-C1 is now directed to 150.5 degrees east
\nlongitude.<\/p>\n
The replacement is necessary, because with the anomaly, the
\nfour Ku-band transponders of the Palapa-C1 will not be able to
\noperate optimally during solar eclipses.<\/p>\n
\"The Palapa-C2 arrived at 113 degrees east longitude on June
\n25, while the traffic diversion was completed on June 30,\" Eddy
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Lessees of the Palapa-C1 that now use the Palapa-C2 include
\nMegatv, Sony, ABC, the American news channel CNN, the ESPN
\nsports station, HBO entertainment network, Discovery, Viacom,
\nSingapore's Asia Business News, NBC Asia, Star TV, Canal France
\nInternational and Turner Far East Asia.<\/p>\n
Other users include the state television network Televisi
\nRepublik Indonesia, and the country's five private television
\nnetworks -- RCTI, SCTV, TPI, Indosiar and ANteve -- as well as
\ndomestic and overseas telecommunications firms. (icn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/philippine-firm-acquires-aging-palapa-satellite-1447893297",
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