[Satellite News 06-10-09] AsiaSat could launch a direct-to-home (DTH) service in Taiwan with a high-definition (HD) offering as early as the 2009 third quarter, CEO Peter Jackson confirmed to Satellite News.
    Jackson was discussing a plan unveiled by AsiaSat and EchoStar June 3 to form a joint venture and deliver DTH services across Asia. “We haven’t fixed a date as to when we will launch in Taiwan, but we intend to launch very quickly,” he said.
    In terms of how the JV came together, Jackson said, “We have an associate company SpeedCast using our transponders for broadband multimedia, maritime and mobile TV services. We had also started a previous DTH operation just as a trial to use some of the capacity. Then we had a decision whether to go ahead with DTH in a big way or whether we should lease the transponders to someone else. Initially there was not much interest in doing DTH in the area under the [broadcast satellite service] footprint, but we were then approached by EchoStar who expressed interest in exploring DTH opportunities with AsiaSat in Taiwan and other areas.
    AsiaSat will provide the satellite capacity for the DTH platform and a share capital injection of $17.5 million The offering will be broadcast via the AsiaSat 4 satellite, which has a broadcast satellite service payload to enable viewers to receive the DTH offerings using satellite antennas as small as 30 centimeters in diameter.
    “We believe the deal is very important as the revenue model for the satellite transponder business is limited to the quantity of transponders we have available,” Jackson said. “ However, the DTH model obviously relies on the market but it plays into the strength of the satellite service with its ubiquitous coverage and unlimited number of receivers that can be served.”
    Taiwan has a about 7 million TV households, with about 4.5 million cable pay-TV subscribers. “But of these, only around 730,000 are digital. So we believe there is an opportunity for an all-digital, high-quality television service in Taiwan, and we will be offering a very special package to differentiate our products from the existing pay services available in this market,” Jackson said.
    The offering likely will feature an HD component. “We will unveil details of the packages just prior to launch. In terms of HD, I think every new offer has to have an HD component to it. I don’t think anyone would launch a digital system today without having HD available.”
    Jackson hopes the DTH offering will find a market in China. “We would like to target southern China, but we are not in a position to do that right now. We keep hoping the law will change but until that time we will concentrate on Taiwan and possibly the other areas under the [broadcast satellite service] footprint which covers Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan and southern China. China is actively looking at DTH services. They have one DTH satellite and are looking at another one, so we think at some point, the regulations on DTH will change in China,” he said.
    Jackson is confident that, with EchoStar as a partner, AsiaSat can be successful in the DTH arena. “We are continually looking at the opportunities and I certainly believe there is space for more than one DTH operator in every market. If we can offer the right high-quality product with packages designed and priced to suit all levels of society, we believe we can find a niche in every market, with the possible exception of India, where I believe there is sufficient competition. Every market in Asia is different.”.