Philippine firm acquires aging Palapa satellite
Philippine firm acquires aging Palapa satellite
JAKARTA (JP): Mabuhay Philippines Satellite Corporation, a
satellite operator from the Philippines, has sign an agreement
with the publicly-listed PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara of
Indonesia to acquire the latter's aging Palapa-B2P satellite.
A manager of Pasifik Satelit, Ron Pirolo, told The Jakarta
Post yesterday that the agreement for the satellite acquisition
was signed last Thursday.
He declined to reveal the cost of the deal. He was unable as
well to provide information about the expected lifetime of the
aging satellite, and at which orbit the inclined satellite will
operate.
The Palapa-B2P satellite, the fourth of Indonesia's eight
communications spacecraft, was previously operated by the state-
owned domestic telecommunications provider, PT Telkom.
The satellite -- of the HS-376 type, with 24 transponders --
was manufactured by the Hughes Space and Communications Company
of the United States. It was launched in March 1987 from Cape
Canaveral. The spacecraft, previously orbiting at the 113 degree
east longitude, was taken out of service by Telkom last March.
Normally, satellites of the Palapa-B series operate in the C-
band, receiving from 5.92 gigahertz to 6.41 GHz and transmitting
from 3.7 GHz to 4.4 GHz. The satellites use 10-watt traveling-
wave tube amplifiers.
Pasifik Satelit, partly owned by Telkom, formerly planned to
operate the Palapa-B2P satellite.
Mabuhay's president, Cesar Reyes, said that the Palapa-B2P --
to be renamed "Mabuhay" -- will begin serving broadcasting and
telecommunications customers in the Philippines in advance of the
launch of his company's satellite early next year.
Satelindo
Mabuhay is a consortium consisting of the Philippines Long
Distance Telephone Co. of the Philippines, Pasifik Satelit and
Everbright Group of China.
Philippines Long Distance Telephone was the first customer of
Pasifik Satelit in 1992.
Pasifik Satelit, which floated part of its common shares on
the Nasdaq Capital Market in the United States recently, owns six
transponders on each of the 34-transponder Palapa-C1 and Palapa-
C2 satellites currently operated by PT Satelindo. It will own six
transponders on the Mabuhay satellite, to be launched in
December.
Meanwhile, Satelindo announced yesterday that the lessees of
the Palapa-C1 satellite have successfully shifted to the Palapa-
C2 satellite.
Satelindo is the owner and operator of both the Palapa-C1 and
Palapa-C2 satellites, which have been prepared to replace the
operation of the satellites of the Palapa-B generation.
A Satelindo spokesman, Eddy Thoyib, told the Post that due to
an anomaly on the Palapa-C1's battery discharge control, the
Palapa-C2 has replaced it at 113 degrees east longitude.
Meanwhile, Palapa-C1 is now directed to 150.5 degrees east
longitude.
The replacement is necessary, because with the anomaly, the
four Ku-band transponders of the Palapa-C1 will not be able to
operate optimally during solar eclipses.
"The Palapa-C2 arrived at 113 degrees east longitude on June
25, while the traffic diversion was completed on June 30," Eddy
said.
Lessees of the Palapa-C1 that now use the Palapa-C2 include
Megatv, Sony, ABC, the American news channel CNN, the ESPN
sports station, HBO entertainment network, Discovery, Viacom,
Singapore's Asia Business News, NBC Asia, Star TV, Canal France
International and Turner Far East Asia.
Other users include the state television network Televisi
Republik Indonesia, and the country's five private television
networks -- RCTI, SCTV, TPI, Indosiar and ANteve -- as well as
domestic and overseas telecommunications firms. (icn)