Thailand’s Ministry of Information and Communications Technology has hired Thammasat University Research and Consultancy Institute (TU-RAC) to conduct a feasibility study to develop a state-owned communications satellite, The Nation reports. The project is in line with the government's plan to use communications technology to support economic and social development and to enable people to get quick access to state information.
The government also wants to have its own communications satellite to meet the increasing usage of satellites for communications, instead of relying mainly on Thaicom satellites. Thaicom has allocated six and a half transponders of its broadcasting satellites for state agencies on a rental basis and another transponder for their use free of charge. The state agencies also use a combined 2 Gbps of bandwidth for Thaicom's iPSTAR broadband satellite.
As part of the TU-RAC study, the total satellite usage by the state agencies is expected to grow 3-5 percent annually, taking in 14 transponders and using 4 Gpbs in the next five years. These figures indicate that the agencies' demand for satellite services in the next five years will be the equivalent of only half the normal 24-transponder satellite.
The cost of satellite usage by state agencies is expected to reach THB 4.2 billion per year in 2021 and THB 5.7 billion per year in 2026, up from the current THB 1.76 billion per year. Of the THB 1.76 billion, around THB 297 million per year is the cost of using 6.5 satellite transponders, while THB 680 million is for using 2Gbps bandwidth, and THB 783 million per year is for broadcasting.
