Shayman Travels Path To Indian Success

Shayman ACeS Pvt Ltd, a joint venture between Shayman Telecom and AceS International, have been given a letter of intent from the Indian government saying it will licence ACeS as a global mobile personal communications service (GMPCS) provider in India.

The decision to licence a foreign-owned satellite system for service in India appears to a big step for a government bureaucracy that until recent years has tended to defend its own state-owned domestic satellite system and its largely state-owned telephone system. However, things do not always happen over night in India. Having a contract is one thing, having the business up and running without any bureaucracy getting in the way is another.

The licence will allow Shayman ACeS to operate as AceS’ designated national service provider in India. Shayman plans to invest $30 million in an ACeS gateway that will use the system’s Garuda 1 satellite.

That gateway is expected to be in operation by the end of the third quarter of this year. Until then Indian customers will be able to access the satellite through existing gateways in Indonesia or Thailand.

PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara is the lead partner in ACeS. The other partners the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co, Jasmine International of Thailand and the Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications subsidiary of Lockheed Martin Corp.