RI vows to win transponder leasing race

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia, with its 27 years of experience in satellite telecommunications technology, expects to come out on top in the competition in satellite transponder leasing in the Asia-Pacific region.

The number of commercial transponders of the satellites covering the region is predicted to increase from about 500 this year to abut 800 next year.

Currently there are more than 30 companies from 13 countries, hiring the transponders of Indonesia's Palapa satellites. The 13 countries include Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Cambodia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Australia, France, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Macao and the United States.

The state-owned telecommunications companies, PT Telkom and PT Indosat, have recently invited 15 telecommunications executives from five countries, including Cambodia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos and Papua New Guinea, to attend training on satellite telecommunications technology.

Telkom's general manager for its satellite department, Bambang Setiawan, said over the weekend that the two-week training course aimed to bolster cooperation among the six nations.

"Indonesia is also offering assistance to support telecommunications development in those countries," he said.

Indonesia has launched seven satellites since 1976.

Competition in the transponder business in the region will likely become sharper as more countries launch their own satellites in the near future.

Malaysia's Binariang Bhd., for example, will launch the first Malaysia East Asia Satellite (Measat-1) by the end of next year with a digital cellular phone network. The satellite is to be set in orbit in such a way as to cover an area extending from the Philippines to the Indian subcontinent and from north China to Indonesia.

The other companies which will launch regional satellites include Thailand's Thaicom II, Hong Kong's AsiaSat 2, South Korea's Koreasat, Japan's JCSat and Columbia's TDRS. China launched its Apstar last Thursday, while Singapore and the Philippines plan to launch their own satellites next year.

Indonesia, the first Asian country to use a telecommunications satellite, is preparing for the launching of two other satellites, Palapa-C1 in November 1995 and Palapa-C2 in 1996. (icn)