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AsiaSatLink Quarterly Newsletter
Issue 53, Spring 2007 |
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AsiaSat 5 Completes Design Phase |
The new AsiaSat satellite, AsiaSat 5, has successfully completed both the Preliminary Design Review and the Critical Design Review at Space Systems/Loral (SS/L)'s Palo Alto factory.
AsiaSat 5 is designed to replace AsiaSat 2 at the orbital location of 100.5 degrees East and is currently planned for launch in 2009 by the Zenit 3SLB rocket on the Land Launch system from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
During the design review process, the antenna coverage patterns for the four main reflectors of AsiaSat 5 were finalised. Enhancements were made to the C-band pan-Asian beam giving improved power and coverage over AsiaSat 2's existing C-band footprint. The three Ku-band beams of AsiaSat 5 are also designed to meet market specific requirements for high power and focused coverage over East Asia, a new South Asia beam extending from India and Bangladesh to Cyprus in the Mediterranean, and an in-orbit steerable beam. All of the Ku-band beams are designed with the capability to switch any uplink to any downlink beam.
In addition to finalising the antenna patterns, the satellite payload and bus subsystems have also been manufactured and are now in the unit testing phase. The main structure of the satellite has been built and assembly is essentially complete. The harness and propulsion components are now being installed. It is expected that over the next few months, rapid progress will be seen in the appearance of the satellite as further units are integrated and tested.
AsiaSat 5's central cylinder, the primary structure of the spacecraft, under final assembly
Arirang TV renewed its C-band lease on AsiaSat 3S to continue distributing its Arabic service across Asia and Australasia. The Arirang Arab channel offers a variety of programmes from news and dramas to documentaries and entertainment that are independently produced and then have an Arabic voice over or subtitles added with an aim of promoting the economic and cultural ties between Korea and the Arab world.
Reach signed new leases for C-band capacity on AsiaSat 2 and AsiaSat 4 to enhance its voice, data and satellite services for its enterprise and wholesale customers. Headquartered in Hong Kong, Reach is a premier provider of international voice and satellite services in Asia.
SpeedCast Limited renewed its C-band lease agreements on AsiaSat 2 and AsiaSat 4 to continue to provide its customers with a wide range of satellite services including Internet Access, Enterprise Network Services, Corporate Broadcast Services and Multimedia Content Distribution with in particular, a recently launched Mobile TV platform. SpeedCast, 47% owned by AsiaSat, is a leading satellite and multimedia service provider in Asia with customers in over 30 countries.
Australian Satellite Communications Pty Limited signed a new lease agreement for the AsiaSat 4 Ku-band Australasia Beam to provide VSAT communications services to its customers in Australasia.
TVB PAY VISION Limited renewed its lease for C-band capacity on AsiaSat 3S to continue the services for supporting its teleport business. Major shareholders of TVB PAY VISION Limited are Television Broadcasts Limited, commonly known as TVB (49%), and Enjoy Profits Limited (49%).
Guangdong TV renewed its C-band lease on AsiaSat 2 for the provision of video distribution services to its customers around the region.
Shenzhen Jin An Technology Development Co. Ltd. signed a new lease for Ku-band capacity on AsiaSat 3S to connect its various VSAT sites across China.
China Radio International (CRI) renewed its Ku-band lease on AsiaSat 2. The capacity is used for distributing international video news services. CRI currently broadcasts in 38 languages and 5 dialects, serving over 200 million listeners overseas.
Yinmore Telecommunication Technology Co Ltd. (Yinmore) of China renewed its AsiaSat 3S Ku-band lease agreement to continue to provide VSAT network services across the country. Yinmore's extensive VSAT network connects thousands of VSAT terminals serving various industries in China.
Beijing Asia Pacific East Communications Network Ltd. renewed its lease agreement for AsiaSat 2 Ku-band capacity. The capacity is used for providing domestic data services in China.
China Meteorological Administration National Satellite Meteorological Centre signed a new lease for C-band capacity on AsiaSat 4 to transmit meteorological information to its users across the region.
Shengli Geologging Company renewed its AsiaSat 3S Ku-band lease to continue to operate its VSAT network that connects its offices with oil drilling sites located across remote areas in China. Shengli is under the operations of China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec) which is a vertically integrated energy and chemical company engaged in oil and gas exploration and production, and the production and distribution of oil and chemical products.
AsiaSat's ultimate holding company, Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Limited, announced annual results for the year ended 31st December, 2006. Turnover for the full year was HK$930 million, including a one-time contribution of HK$50 million. The company reported an increase of 6% in overall utilisation of its satellite fleet despite tough market conditions in Asia. The Board of Directors proposed a final dividend of 27 HK cents per share, for a total of 35 HK cents per share for the year, maintaining dividends at the same level as the prior year.
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GE Becomes AsiaSat's New Major Shareholder
Proposal to Take AsiaSat Private |
Subsequent to the completion of the Exchange Transaction and transfer of shares between General Electric Company (GE) and SES on 29 March 2007, GE has become one of AsiaSat's major shareholders holding approximately 34.1% economic interest in AsiaSat.
Following the resignation of the SES appointees to the Board, four new Non-executive Directors were appointed to AsiaSat's Board of Directors including Mr. Ronald J. Herman, Jr. (who acts as Deputy Chairman of AsiaSat), Mr John Connelly, Mr. Mark Chen and Ms. Nancy Ku.
Founding shareholder CITIC Group remains as the other major shareholder holding 34.8% of the economic interest in AsiaSat. CITIC Group and GE have equal voting rights over AsiaSat, now held jointly, through Bowenvale Limited, which holds 68.9% of the issued share capital of AsiaSat.
On 13 February 2007, CITIC and GE, through AsiaCo Acquisition (formerly known as Modernday Limited), put forward a privatisation proposal to AsiaSat's public shareholders (representing approximately 31.1% of the AsiaSat Shares traded on the Hong Kong and New York stock exchanges). The privatisation will take effect subject to a number of conditions, one of which was the completion of the Exchange Transaction.
On 24 April, a Court Meeting and a Special General Meeting to vote upon the privatisation proposal, and to approve and give effect to the privatisation by reducing the issued share capital of AsiaSat and to issue and allot new AsiaSat shares, will be convened. Upon approval of the shareholders at both meetings and other conditions being fulfilled, the proposal to take the company private will take effect.
Several national administrations in Asia have implemented broadband wireless access
(BWA) systems in the 3.4-4.2 GHz frequency band which is part of the C-band Fixed Satellite Service (FSS) Band as designated by the ITU. This satellite band, which is extensively used by many countries in Asia suffered extensive local interruption when these administrations implemented BWA services. Some of the affected countries were Australia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Pakistan and Indonesia.
To resolve the issue and to avoid repeating the problems in other countries where the satellite C-band spectrum has been identified or under consideration for use by BWA services, satellite industry associations along with satellite operators and users are lobbying local regulators to protect C-band satellite services from being interfered by the new wireless broadband service. Analysis has also been conducted and has proved that co-frequency operation of BWA systems and FSS in the same geographic area is not feasible. Recommendations were made to the international community that it is important to maintain the current ITU allocation status on C-band, and to use alternative frequency bands for BWA services.
More information and studies about spectrum sharing of BWA and FSS can be found at www.asiasat.com/bwa.html
Broadband Wireless Access and Fixed Satellite Service
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Technical FAQ |
C-band or Ku-band?
Q: I am planning to launch a TV channel targeting Asia and would like to know about the satellite reception situation in Asia. Since Ku-band can be received by smaller dishes, is it better for my new channel to use Ku-band, as in the European and US markets, instead of C-band?
A: Asia is a massive but diverse market that encompasses over 50 countries and regions including some of the world's most developed economies and most rapidly developing regions in the world. Using a regional C-band beam offered by regional satellites such as AsiaSat 2 will allow you to reach a vast number of cable headends and pay TV platforms effectively across the whole region. But if you are targeting a specific market, you may choose to deliver your service via Ku-band which does allow you to use a smaller dish. In a market such as Australia, the Australasia beam on AsiaSat 4 offers a high power focused beam designed for the provision of Direct-To-Home services. However, due to the high rainfall in most tropical countries that affects the availability of Ku-band the service level would be lower than the C-band signal. Contact AsiaSat to discuss your particular requirements to ensure a quality end to end service that meets your business needs.
C-band or Ku-band?
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If you have any comments or questions regarding AsiaSatLink, please write to: Winnie Pang, Corporate Affairs Manager, Asia Satellite Telecommunications co. Ltd., 17/F, The Lee Gardens, 33 Hysan Avenue, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong.
Tel: (852) 2500 0880 Fax: (852) 2500 0895 Email: wpang@asiasat.com
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