[Satellite News 02-05-09] SingTel is set to announce details of a new satellite with an as yet unnamed new partner, Titus Yong, SingTel’s vice president of satellite told Satellite News.
    “We are in talks with a few partners to explore the possibility of launching another satellite around the same time as ST-2. This would extend our coverage beyond Asia into regions such as Africa and the Middle East.  We choose to work with partners with complementary business objectives,” he said.
    SingTel and partner Chunghwa Telecom awarded a $136.4 million contract in December to Mitsubishi Electric Corp. to build the ST-2 satellite. The satellite, likely to be delivered in 2010, will cater to the strong demand for fixed and mobile satellite services and IP-based solutions, such as SingTel’s Office-At-Sea suite of maritime applications.
    “This is a project of great importance to SingTel and Chunghwa,” said Yong. “We currently co-own the ST-1 satellite with Chunghwa, and this will be retired in 2011. The ST-2 satellite is important because it will offer significantly greater capacity than ST-1 and wider coverage to also include emerging markets such as the Middle East. It will enable us to meet the strong demand for fixed and mobile satellite services, including our innovative IP-based solutions. In fact, even before its launch, about two-thirds of ST-2’s capacity has been pre-booked.”
    Hiroyuki Inahata, group vice president and general manager of space systems at Mitsubishi, said the deal was also important to Mitsubishi, as his company looks to gain more deals beyond Japan. “It is my recognition that the successful deal of ST-2 means Mitsubishi Electric Corp. is now qualified as a commercial satellite manufacturer not only in Japan, but also in the global market,” said Inahata.
    Building off of this effort, SingTel likely will deepen its approach into satellite very soon, announcing a new partnership early this year, Yong said. The company also is looking to expand its satellite interests beyond its native borders. As one of the biggest telcos in Asia, SingTel has a majority stake in Optus, one of the biggest telcos in Australia, which also has a progressive satellite strategy.
    "We have been in the satellite business for over 35 years. Satellite services play an important role in SingTel’s overall vision for the corporate business market,” said Yong. “They enable us to transform key markets such as the maritime, broadcast and logistics industries. SingTel has embarked on several exciting initiatives to give the broadcast industry a boost.”
    Yong said in order to aid in the development of innovative broadcast solutions, SingTel is looking to establish a broadcast innovation center, the first of its kind in the Asia-Pacific region. “SingTel recognizes that during these difficult times, it is important to think outside the box to establish fresh avenues for growth,” he said. “Despite the scale of the current downturn, we believe businesses will continue to turn to ICT providers like SingTel to streamline their processes and operations. The more successful ICT providers will transform the way their customers do business through innovative solutions. For SingTel, innovation is central to everything we do.”
    Like a number of telcos around the world, using satellite alongside telecoms technologies is key to the operator’s future, Yong said. “I think we will not just be seen as a satellite operator in five years time, but a multi-faceted IPTV/satellite player.”