Satellite demand to pick soon

Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Singapore

Demand for commercial satellites in Asian-Pacific markets is expected to pick up as telecommunications operators in the region seek to expand their infrastructure to meet surging Internet usage, according to Arianespace, the French-based satellite launch company.

Jean-Marie Luton, the chairman and CEO of Arianespace, said Asian-Pacific markets still needed more satellites to support the rapid development of the telecommunications sector in the region.

"My view is that the telecommunications industry will rebound in a fairly dramatic manner in a year or two. In this situation, operators will demand (satellite) launch providers that can meet this upsurge in the market," said Luton.

Arianespace, which has a long-established foothold in the region, will seek to fulfill the new demand, Luton.

"This is what we have been doing for years, and this is what we will continue to maintain for years to come," Luton said on the sidelines of CommunicAsia 2002, the 14th ASEAN International Communications and Information Technology Exhibition and Conference.

Arianespace is one of the exhibitors participating in the event, being held in Singapore from June 18 to June 21.

At the press briefing, which attended by dozens of journalists from the Asia Pacific, Luton was accompanied by Richard Bowles, the representative director of Arianespace's Singapore office and Philippe Berterottiere, the senior vice president for sales and marketing and programs at Arianespace.

To anticipate the upswing in demand in the Asia Pacific, Arianespace has set up representative offices both in Japan and Singapore.

Luton said of the total 248 contracts signed since Arianespace was formed in 1980, about 36 satellites were for the Asian- Pacific markets, led by Japan with 17, India with eight and Indonesia with three.

Asia still lags behind the U.S. in terms of Internet usage, but people in the region are keenly interested in the new medium of communication. This will make Asia an important market for commercial satellites in the future, he said.

Arianespace has launched three Indonesian satellites -- the Palapa C2 in May 1996, the Cakrawarta in November 1997 and the Telkom-1 in August 1999.

Both the Palapa C2 and Telkom-1 are owned by state-owned telecommunications firm PT Telkom, while the Cakrawarta is owned by multimedia company PT Media Citra Indostar.

Indonesia now has six satellites in orbit: Telkom-1, Palapa B- 2R, Palapa B4, Palapa C1, Palapa C2 and Cakrawarta. These six satellites are equipped with 111 transponders to meet the various telecommunications needs of hundreds of local and international users.

Arianespace and the U.S. company Delta are now competing to win the tender for the launch of another telecommunications satellite owned by Telkom: Telkom-2.

The Telkom-2 satellite is expected to be put into orbit sometime in 2004 to replace the Palapa-B4 satellite, which will become obsolete in 2003.

The Palapa-B4, made by the United States' Hughes Communications International, was launched into geostationary orbit on May 14, 1992, from Cape Canaveral, Florida, using a Delta 7925 rocket.

Indonesia became the first Asian nation to operate a domestic satellite when it launched the Palapa C2 in 1996. At that time, the satellite-based domestic telecommunications system was only used by developed countries like Canada and the United States.

Talks on the manufacture and launch of Telkom-2 began several years ago, but were suspended following the Asian economic crisis in late 1997.

Luton said that as of June, Arianespace had launched seven satellites this year and planned another six launches before the end of the year.

"That would bring us to a record setting 13 launches in one year," Luton said.

Arianespace is a consortium of 53 firms from 12 European countries, of which French companies together hold the largest share at 55.54 percent, followed by German firms with 18.58 percent, Italian firms with 8.11 percent and Belgium firms with 4.17 percent.