20-year licence sought for Thaicom 9 satellite
Thaicom has applied for a 20-year licence for its planned Thaicom 9 broadband satellite from the National Broadcasting and Telecommuni-cations Commission, an NBTC source has said.
The NBTC awarded a 20-year satellite licence to Thaicom in 2012 to operate any of its satellites launched under that licence.
However, Thaicom has applied for a separate licence for Thaicom 9. The NBTC telecom committee will have to consider whether Thaicom 9 can operate under the company’ existing licence or if it needs a separate one.
The satellites under the existing NBTC licence are Thaicom 7 and planned satellite Thaicom 8.
Ekachai Phakdurong, Thaicom’s senior vice president for corporate affairs, said the company wanted to apply for a separate 20-year licence for Thaicom 9 to match the life span of the satellite, as its existing NBTC licence now has only 17 years remaining. The development of Thaicom 9 is expected to take three years to complete. If the company uses the existing licence for Thai|com 9, it will have only 14 years |left once the new satellite is launched.
The company has conducted a technical study on the Thaicom 9 project development, which is estimated to cost US$200 million (Bt7.2 billion). The satellite will feature 20-gigabyte capacity and will be positioned at the 119.5 degrees east orbital slot.
Ekachai said Thaicom 9 would serve Asia-Pacific countries, including Thailand.
Thaicom also operates three |satellites under an Information |and Communications Technology Ministry concession, which are the Thaicom 5 and 6 broadcasting satellites and the Thaicom 4 broadband satellite, better known as iPSTAR.
Thaicom will also ask the ICT Ministry to request that the International Telecommunication Union coordinate with existing satellites orbiting adjacent to 119.5 degrees east to prevent possible frequency jams between them and Thaicom 9.
Former ICT minister Pornchai Rujiprapa had resolved to impose a fee on Thaicom satellites under NBTC licence to offset the ministry’s administrative costs to reserve the orbital slots.
Uttama Savanayana, the recently appointed ICT minister, said he needed time to study all the key issues of the satellite industry and related policies before making a decision on the issues.
