Measat Satellite Systems is one of the leading satellite operators in Asia, with a strong position in the region’s video markets. It provides capacity for many growing DTH platforms across the region. In addition, the company is also looking to strengthen its presence in Africa, another potential growth market for satellite communications. Measat Satellite Systems CEO Paul Brown-Kenyon outlines the vision for the company in both Asia and Africa going forward.
VIA SATELLITE: What is your capital expenditure plan for new satellites? Will you need more capacity in the near future?
Brown-Kenyon: We are looking to support our customers, and our customers are looking for more capacity. Hence, we are looking to secure that capacity. The key focus for us at this time is on DTH. We are in the midst of securing an additional satellite for our 91.5 degrees hot slot at the moment, which we will name Measat-3b. It will be a 48-transponder satellite covering four markets. It will be designed to work with Measat-3 and Measat-3a and will primarily provide additional growth capacity for our anchor DTH customers. It will also allow us to increase the robustness of our network (with three satellites supporting customers from the same slot) and allow us to expand into a fourth market.
We see strong demand for Measat-3b capacity and we expect it will be predominantly leased out before it is launched. We do see demand for capacity beyond Measat-3b. As such, we are in discussions regarding a ‘Measat-3c’ satellite, which will initially be back-up capacity, but in time will also be a more operational satellite supporting our core business.
VIA SATELLITE: Will Ka-band satellites make an impact in Asia? Will you look to procure one in the near future?
Brown-Kenyon: We are still considering Ka-band satellites, but if you take a step back, people moved from Ku-band to Ka-band in North America when they ran out of Ku-band spectrum. At the moment, we have sufficient Ku-band spectrum to support requirements, both now and in the immediate future. With the Measat-3b satellite, we are going to have 84 Ku-band transponders across our markets, and we can definitely put more on top of that. At some point, Ku-band will be full, so at that point we will look at Ka-band as the next band for growth.
The additional challenge we have with Ka-band is the rain-fade issue. It is not as easy of a choice as it is in markets like North America, Europe and the Middle East. At some point we will move to Ka-band to support growth, but I think that we are at least five years away given that we have sufficient spectrum from Measat-3b and Measat-3c.
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