Binariang all out for high-tech
Binariang all out for high-tech
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Politically well-connected Binariang
unveiled ambitious plans yesterday to introduce advanced
telecommunications systems and confirmed a December launch for
Malaysia's first satellite.
"We are on schedule to launch the satellite in late December
and once the satellite stabilizes in orbit by around March we can
begin leasing the transponders," said Duffy Swan, chief operating
officer of Binariang, a consortium associated with local tycoon
Ananda Krishnan.
Binariang was granted a license in 1991 to launch the
country's first satellite, another in 1993 to operate a digital
cellular system, and a host of related permits last year as the
government moved to liberalize its telecommunications industry.
State-owned Telekom Malaysia dominates the sector although
other new players like Celcom and Mobikom are making inroads as
cellular telephone providers.
Swan said the company had lined up launch dates for a range of
ground-breaking services from later this year through to 1997.
Binariang's digital cellular network using the Global System
for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology will be introduced in
the third quarter of this year while its Malaysia East Asia
Satellite (MEASAT) is set to launch its first satellite in late
December.
Swan said five local and regional firms had made a "firm
commitment" to lease capacity from MEASAT.
One confirmed customer is sister company Measat Broadcast
Network Systems Sdn. Bhd. which will operate Malaysia's first
satellite television service.
A second satellite will be launched six months later to
complete the system, he said.
A high-tech fixed network was also being laid in the Kuala
Lumpur area and would be extended to southern Johore state in the
next two months, Swan said.
"The network will have a wider band width than the usual
copper lines, offering multiple services on a single line," he
said.
Swan said the network would use an advanced fiber-optics
system pioneered in the United States by Binariang's U.S.-based
partner US West.
US West, one of seven Baby Bell units created in the United
States after the break-up of AT and T, has a 20 percent stake in
Binariang.