Norwegian satellite manufacturer Nera, which signed a $16.6 million contract to supply deliver 18 gateways to Shin Satellite in Asia, hopes to tie-up similar deals in the near future. The deal was done through Nera’s wholly-owned subsidiary, Nera Broadband Satellite.

Kjell Nohr, president of Nera Broadband Satellite, told Interspace: “We are talking to several operators. But, I can’t really give you any details right now. We are close to some other contracts. So, we hope to announce deals in the next 2-3 months here.”

The deal with Shin, however, is a big boost to the company, in particular, as it looks to drive increased revenues from the satellite broadband side. “Our ambition is to be the leading supplier on the DVB-RCS [digital video broadcasting and return channel via satellite] side for gateways and terminals,” Nohr said. “We think the most promising markets for satellite broadband are Asia and Latin America. But, there are also parts of southern Europe and northern Africa that are very interesting. There has been an increasing interest for satellite services because it seems that terrestrial networks do not provide sufficient coverage. There is part of the market open to satellite solutions.”

The new gateways are part of Shin Satellite’s ambitious iPSTAR programme, which aims to deliver high-speed Internet services via satellite across Asia (See Interspace issue 758). The second generation of the iPSTAR system will consist of 92 Ku-spot beams, exclusive of video beams. A data capacity of more than 35 Gbps will enable millions of users to use the system with low price terminals. It is one of the most ambitious satellite broadband programmes anywhere in the world. –Mark Holmes