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)