RI vows to win transponder leasing race

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)