Thaicom 8 satellite set for launch late this month
Company has agreed to pay fees for Thaicom 7 and 8, ICT minister says
THAICOM is set to launch its Thaicom 8 satellite by the end of this month and has agreed to retroactively pay the fee to the Information and Communications Ministry for reserving orbital slots for the company’s satellites, ICT Minister Uttama Savanayana has said.
The retroactive fee payment is for its existing Thaicom 7 satellite and the upcoming Thaicom 8.
The Thailand’s sole satellite operator had already informed the ministry and the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) about the launch schedule of the Thaicom 8, the minister added.
The ministry and Thaicom have entered into talks on fee payment. According to preliminary talks, Thaicom has agreed to pay the fee to the ministry and the amount it will pay would be finalised within two months, Uttama said.
Given the Thaicom 7 satellite and the upcoming Thaicom 8 do not operate under the ministry’s concession, the ministry has asked Thaicom to pay the fee to the ministry as cost of reserving the orbital slots for them.
At the present only the Thaicom 4 (better known as iPSTAR), Thaicom 5 and Thaicom 6 satellites operate under the ministry’s concession, while Thaicom 7 and the planned Thaicom 8 and 9 satellites operate under the NBTC’s same single licence.
The National Space Affairs Committee, which is co-chaired by the ICT ministry and the Science Ministry, is drawing up a national space policy, and regulations for this fee will be added in.
After the committee completely finishes the policy, the NBTC will also add into the satellite licence conditions that a satellite licence holder will have to pay this fee to the ministry.
The concession for the Thaicom satellites will expire in 2021. This year they are paying 20.5 per cent of gross revenue as the concession fee. From next year to 2021, they will pay a higher fee or 22.5 per cent of gross revenue as the concession fee.
The Thaicom satellites under the NBTC licences pay about five per cent of gross revenue as the annual licence fee throughout the licence term.
The Thaicom 8 will be launched to 78.5 degrees East, and provide South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Africa with broadcasting and data services. It will have 24 Ku-band transponders.
NBTC secretary-general Takorn Tantasith expects that the new NBTC law, which is still being drafted, will define a clearer role in managing the satellite sector between the ICT Ministry and the NBTC.
The National Legislative Assembly’s science and mass communications panel is vetting the draft of the new NBTC law.
Thaicom recently reported consolidated revenue from sales of goods and services for the first quarter this year of Bt 3.210 billion, up by 4.4 per cent year-on-year, mainly contributed by revenues from both satellite business and Internet and media businesses, together with the efficiency of cost and expenses control.
