Association recommends new telecom system

Association recommends new telecom system

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Satellite Association (Assi)
recommends the implementation of a high altitude platform system
(HAPS) for Indonesia's telecommunications network as an
alternative to higher cost satellites, a senior executive said.

Chairman of the association's national HAPS working group
Krishnahadi S. Pribadi said that implementing a HAPS system could
cost as low as one tenth of other telecommunications systems such
as cellular and satellite.

HAPS is in the form of a helium-filled blimp which hovers at
the height of between 5 kilometers to 20 kilometers from the
surface of the earth. It can be made to carry devices for
telecommunications, broadcast, navigation, and remote sensing
purposes.

Krishnahadi said that HAPS was also cheaper to maintain
because, in contrast to the satellite, it did not need a rocket
launcher to put it in orbit and that HAPS was easier to recover
from the atmosphere if it needed repairs or upgrading.

"The blimp's closer operational distance from the earth meant
that radio waves do not take a long time to relay," he said in a
statement.

Telecommunications via satellite was considered a logical and
effective complement to both the cellular and fixed line
telecommunications system for Indonesia's archipelagic geography.

However, the cost of sending a satellite into orbit and to
maintain it was costly and there was no guarantee it would
operate properly once in orbit.

A HAPS system currently under research was the 200-meter-long
Stratosphere aircraft that could hover at a height of between 18
kilometers to 20 kilometers, equipped with solar power cells to
act as a battery for the various devices installed aboard.

Krishnahadi said the Stratosphere would be ready for
commercial purposes in 2005.

In the meantime Assi recommended the use of the Aerostat
aircraft with an airborne relay communications (ARC) system as a
first step towards the more advanced Stratosphere, he said.

"The ARC technology, planned to be implemented in Indonesia
sometime this year or early next year, is produced by the United
State's Platform Wireless International in cooperation with
Indonesia's PT Automatrix Cipta Mandiri," Krishnahadi said.

The Aerostat would hover at a height of 5,000 meters and is
equipped with telecommunications transponders which could cover
an area of 38,000 square kilometers, he said, adding that to
cover the same width a cellular system would need more than 400
base transceiver stations (BTS) with more than $300 million in
investment.

"Investment for the ARC system is only about $30 million,"
Krishnahadi said, adding that each Aerostat aircraft was able to
service a maximum of 500,000 customers.

The system was designed to be compatible with common cellular
technologies such as the DCS-1800, CDMA, TDMA, GPRS, and third-
generation protocols, and is easily upgraded, he said.

"The ARC's main use would be for fixed-cellular systems and
Internet in rural areas and is hoped to boost the development of
telecommunications and Internet outlets in those regions,"
Krishnahadi said.

In September this year, Assi plans to organize an
international workshop on HAPS which would further explore its
benefits in Indonesia.(tnt)