ACeS to expand to Taiwan and India

ACeS to expand to Taiwan and India

JAKARTA (JP): The Jakarta-based company ACeS International
Limited, a regional satellite-based mobile phone operator, will
expand its services to India and Taiwan later this year.

Company spokesperson Wanudharia H. said that ACeS had
appointed two companies, ACeS Taiwan in Taiwan and Shyam ACeS in
India, as National Service Providers (NSP).

"Gateways are being prepared by both companies while
operations are targeted to commence in the middle of this year,"
she said.

ACeS operates a geo-stationary satellite system dubbed Garuda
to cover most of the Asian region stretching from India in the
west to Indochina in the east and from China in the north to
members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in
the south.

The ACeS system is based on a Global System for Mobile
Communications (GSM) standard. Meanwhile, the Garuda satellite
was developed by the U.S. aerospace, defense and
telecommunications giant Lockheed Martin.

Late last year, ACeS service was launched by PT Pasifik
Satellite Nusantara (PSN) in Indonesia and by Philippines Long
Distance Telephone (PLDT) in the Philippines. Both companies are
ACeS' NSPs. Each NSP in every country have their own brand for
ACeS service. It is called Byru in Indonesia and SMARTACeS in the
Philippines.

Jasmine International of Thailand will launch an ACeS service
in Thailand next month.

PSN, which is listed on the Nasdaq, PLDT and Jasmine are ACeS
shareholders. Another shareholder at ACeS is Lockheed Martin
Global Telecommunications of the U.S.

With operations covering the most important regions in Asia,
any person with an ACeS handheld device will be able to directly
communicate with another person carrying a similar device within
the satellite coverage through ground station gateways and public
switching telephone networks, or with any person with a cellular
or normal fixed telephone anywhere in the world.

The project is claimed to be simpler and cheaper than other
satellite-based cellular telecommunications projects which
operate globally like Globalstar, or the now defunct Iridium.

Remember that beyond the existing and planned NSPs, the ACeS
service can already be used throughout the area of coverage.

Uncovered areas

Ria said that the cellular industry in Asia, particularly GSM,
will continue growing.

"However, it will be more concentrated in highly populated
areas which is not ACeS' main target. We target the GSM market,
but as a complimentary service. There won't be any direct
competition between ACeS and GSM operators, as we focus on non-
covered areas, that is why we rely upon satellite technology. It
will cost a lot for any GSM operators to invest in a scattered
demand market area."

She reiterated that ACeS' role in the cellular industry was to
be the provider for those non-covered areas.

"With the right affordable retail price, we believe that we
can provide a reasonable answer to this need," she said.

Ria said that ACeS had invested some US$700 million for a
satellite, a ground station and three gateways.

She said that ACeS offered benefits to the cellular industry.

"Basically, ACeS offers to extend communication coverage for
GSM subscribers, and there will be smooth and transferable
roaming between ACeS and GSM 900. Currently we have commercial
operations with three GSM operators: PT Satelindo of Indonesia,
Pacific Century Cyberworks (PCCW) of Hong Kong and Hutchinson of
Hong Kong," she said.

The only weakness of a satellite-based mobile phone system is
that it must be used outdoors as there should be a direct link
between the antenna of the terminals and satellite/gateway
signals.

Tariff

To some extent, satellite-based mobile phone systems also
offer interesting tariffs for users.

For example, if you subscribe to Byru and travel to China,
someone who calls you from Indonesia will spend only Rp 3,400 per
minute. This happens because Byru has an Indonesian number whose
prefix is 62868xxx.

As a Byru user, you don't have to pay anything when receiving
calls wherever you are in Indonesia. And, you have to pay only Rp
1,500 per minute when you receive a call and you are outside
Indonesia.

Yes, distance becomes insignificant in satellite-based mobile
phone systems.

The tariff of ACeS is very competitive compared to the cost of
roaming using the traditional GSM system.

As a subscriber of a GSM operator in Indonesia, you have to
pay a much more expensive roaming fee and international call
charge when receiving calls and you are outside Indonesia.

However, this is only one positive and advantageous example.
Tariffs of satellite-based mobile phone systems are not always
less expensive compared to BTS-based services.

According to Ria, tariffs are still the most saleable thing in
the market nowadays. "But, we believe that in the future, the
competition will be based on value-added services."

She said that over 5000 ACeS SIM Cards had been sold in
Indonesia in two months since their launch last September.

"In the Philippines, there have been some 200 SIM cards sold
in a month. We believe the market is prospective," she said.

Presently, ACeS SIM cards can only be used with the Ericsson
R-190 terminal.

"We plan to cooperate with other handset manufacturers. It is
still an ongoing process. We believe that all major
telecommunication providers offer deals, to varying degrees, on
all except mobile wider coverage. -- I. Christianto