British firm to launch satellite internet from new station

NT managing director Col Sanphachai Huvanandana said the LEO base station in the compound of the Sirindhorn station in Ubon Ratchathani is now 100% complete and that the British firm OneWeb can start its satellite broadband Internet services in the second quarter.

Sanphanchai said the construction of the base station for OneWeb had been delayed due to an earlier failure to win approval from the Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).

The delay prompted OneWeb to hold off on its satellite broadband internet services for the Asean region for a year, he added.

The OneWeb satellite base in Ubon Ratchathani is built on an area of 40,000 square metres as part of the project known as OneWeb Satellite Network Portal Site House Services.

The OneWeb station in Ubon Ratchathani will be one of more than 40 OneWeb stations worldwide.

OneWeb has launched 428 out of 648 planned satellites into orbit to cover broadband internet services around the world. The rest of the satellites will be launched his year, Sanphachai added.

In addition to managing the satellite station in Ubon Ratchathani for OneWeb, NT has won the right to operate a satellite orbit at the 126E slot to cover Asia Pacific and the South China Sea for 9.076 million baht.

The NT is also helping Thailand retain the right to operate the satellite orbit slot of 119.5E with a bandwidth of 400 Mbps, which will later be assigned by the NBTC to an appropriate government agency, Sanphachai added.