COMMUNICATION: Andeans to Approve Satellite Norms

By Humberto Márquez Reprint | | Print |

Humberto Marquez

CARACAS, Jul 31 1996 (IPS) - The ministerial commission which leads the Andean Community will define the guidelines for use of its Simon Bolivar satellite system this weekend, bringing the project into action before the year is out.

The new Andean statute will include a “social charge” on the beneficiaries of the satellite concession, Jose Soriano, Venezuela’s representative in the Andean Telecommunications Council told IPS.

This “social charge” will mean allowing a certain amount of useage to the Andean nations at cost price, allowing for satellite use aimed at social, cultural and educational ends, he said.

At the same time, public and private companies in Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela will form a Multinational Andean Company (EMA) which will be given the first concession under the new common norms.

The EMAs are Andean transnationals which will be treated as national companies in each of the member nations, and the satellite EMA will require investments of 300 million dollars.

The yearly income of the Simon Bolivar EMA must reach between 120 and 150 million dollars to make profits of between 40 and 45 million needed to justify the construction and launching of an independent satellite for the region, as this will only last 12 years.

The Commission will convert the Andean law into a regulating framework this weekend.

This framework will also establish the terms in which the satellite orbit concessions will be granted, deal with the rights and duties of all users and the obligatory technical norms involved, added Soriano.

The Andean Community will have three orbits assigned by the International Telecommunications Union, at 103, 106 and 109 degrees longitude west, though the last will be difficult to use as Mexico “invaded” by launching its Solidaridad-I satellite at 109.2 degrees longitude west.

The Andean nations have thus organised a swap of orbits, moving their third option to 113 degrees, though in the course of events the quarrel with Mexico slowed negotiations to rent “trasponders” on Solidaridad-I.

The Simon Bolivar EMA has plans to rent out trasponders, but is looking at all the various offers available in the hermisphere, and working towards the construction of the type of satellite most suited to their needs.

This could possibly be a hybrid (C and KU) mechanism with a capacity for 50 trasponders and use of telephone, television, VSAT and other business services, both for the Andean nations and nearby countries.

The construction and launching of the satellite will take around two years. Meanwhile, the Simon Bolivar system can use the agreement the Association of Telecommunications Businesses of the Andean Community made with Intelsat to rent the trasponders at preferential prices.

Having their own satellite is a dream these nations have cherished for the last twenty years. The project took shape as the ‘Condor’ project in the late 80’s, though it fell by the wayside during the economic crisis which then hit several regional nations, and was then rescued as the “Simon Bolivar” project.

However, instead of the old idea for a mechanism owned by these nations, the new scheme leaves the business up to the public and private companies, while regulations will be made on a subregional basis.