Cakrawarta satellite to be insured for $115m

JAKARTA (JP): PT Media Citra Indostar, the owner and operator of Indonesia's first broadcasting satellite Cakrawarta 1, and its partner Orbital International will insure the satellite for US$115.76 million, in case of total loss, and US$95.73 million for partial loss.

Media's director Hans Nugroho said yesterday both the company and Orbital had insured the direct broadcasting satellite (DBS) Cakrawarta for its launching scheduled on Nov. 7 and for its time in-orbit.

The coverage includes physical loss or damage to and failure of the Cakrawarta spacecraft. Coverage will be effective upon the launching of the satellite and for 365 days after.

PT Citra International Underwriters will underwrite 80 percent of the total underwriting value and PT Asuransi Central Asia will underwrite the remaining 20 percent.

PT Reasuransi International Indonesia (Reindo) will organize a pool to maximize the local capacity at about 10 percent of the total sum insured.

Reindo's president Munir Syamsoeddin said yesterday at the satellite insurance presentation to insurance companies that he was optimistic that about 60 local insurance companies would join the pool, judging from their enthusiastic responses.

The premium for the satellite is calculated at about US$17.71 million for launch and in-orbit insurance.

PT Media Citra Indostar, a subsidiary of PT Datakom Asia, will launch Cakrawarta from Kourou, French Guinea. The satellite will be launched by Ariane 4 of the European consortium Arianespace.

The satellite has five transponders, each capable of serving eight channels, or a total of 40 channels.

The service will be used by Datakom Asia's subsidiary PT Matahari Lintas Cakrawala, known as Indovision, which operates a cable television service.

Indovision, which now offers 25 international and local television channels, will change its current system Palapa CE Extended C-Band to the Cakrawarta-1. (das)