Monday, November 25, 2013

NBTC legal unit says Thaicom does not need more satellite licences to launch satellites

The legal unit of Thailand’s broadcast regulator, National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission has noted that Thaicom, the Thai satellite operator will not be needing licensing to launch future satellites. However the sub-committee at NBTC does not agree with the legal unit’s reasoning.
Thaicom had gotten a satellite licence for Thaicom 7, which is due to launch sometime in the middle of 2014. It had gotten the licence last year from NBTC. According to NBTC’s legal unit, the company can function within that licence in order to launch any further satellites in the future. Thaneerat Siripachana, chairman of the NBTC’s subcommittee on satellites has however come out and noted that some members of the subcommittee believe that NBTC ought to apply for fresh licenses every time it wants to launch a new satellite.
Thaicom currently has two satellites in operation, Thaicom 4 (IPSTAR) and Thaicom 5. Thaicom 6 is expected to be launched by later this year into 78.5 degrees East orbital slot. The question now lies on whether Thaicom 8, which is another satellite proposed by Thaicom, will be launching under Thaicom 7’s licence or a new one.

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