Thaicom 6 to break even within 6 years of launch
Satellite operator Thaicom expects its planned Thaicom 6 broadcasting satellite to reach the break-even point within four years of its launch in 2013, senior vice president Makin Petplai yesterday.
The company earlier announced that it expected to launch Thaicom 6 in the second quarter of 2013 at a total cost of about US$160 million (Bt4.8 billion). The satellite, which will have 26 transponders and a minimum service life of 15 years, will be co-located with the Thaicom 5 satellite at 78.5 degrees east longitude.
Makin said the trend of broadcasting high-definition (HD) satellite TV content would benefit the business, given that such programming demands more bandwidth than conventional satellite broadcasting.
Thaicom owns the Thaicom 5 broadcasting satellite and the iPSTAR broadband satellite.
Yesterday, PSI Holding, a local manufacturer and distributor of satellite dishes, signed a deal worth about $1 million with Thaicom to lease its Thaicom 5 satellite to broadcast two TV programmes for two years.
PSI also became the first company to book Thaicom 6 capacity, inking a 12-year deal worth $50 million to lease capacity on a C-band transponder and on a K-u band transponder. PSI has sold 7.5 million satellite dishes over the past 20 years.
