The fate of the much-hyped Bangabandhu 1 satellite project has become uncertain, as Bangladesh could not meet the March 31 deadline for paying $28m in perpetual lease to acquire an orbital slot.
According to government plans, Russia-based satellite company Inter-Sputnik was supposed to provide the desired orbital slot on 119 degree east coordinate, for a single lifetime of 15 years.
Orbital slots are individual rings above the equator that all satellites in geostationary orbit must occupy separately, in order to avoid harmful radio-frequency interference.
On March 9, Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) requested Finance Minister AMA Muhith for allocating funds for paying the lease amount of $28m (Tk218 crore); however, the money was yet to be disbursed.
“As we cannot pay the money now, we need to write to Inter-Sputnik for increasing the deadline for two more months, so that our task is made easier,” a senior official of the Ministry of Post, Telecommunication and Information Technology told the Dhaka Tribune.
The failure to pay the lease may result in the country losing out the desired orbital slot, putting the Tk3,243 crore project for launching the country’s first-ever satellite in jeopardy, ministry officials said.
Telecom Secretary Abubakar Siddique, in a ministry meeting on March 31, directed the project director and officials concerned to request Inter-Sputnik for a deadline extension.
Sources added that losing out the deal with Inter-Sputnik would result in losses of Tk87 crore, which has so far been spent by the government exchequer to secure the services of a consultant.
However, US-based consultant Space Partnership International (SPI) has ensured the government that it would work six more months on the project without any extra fee or charge.
The Bangabandhu 1 satellite project was launched by the previous Awami League-led government and was listed as a priority project.
Source also said Bangladesh had signed a non-binding agreement with the Inter-Sputnik on 2012 to buy half of the total 3,200 megahertz orbital slot spectrum.
The BTRC was yet to finalise its development project proposal (DPP) for establishing the satellite project, with costs expected to rise over time as a result.
Earlier, the BTRC estimated the project cost at Tk3,243 crore, where the BTRC would finance Tk1,555 crore, while the rest of the Tk1,688 crore would come from foreign sources.
Asked about the issue, Telecom Minister Abdul Latif Siddique said: “No doubt that it is a priority project, but there are some formalities and we need to follow that.”
Earlier, BTRC placed a business proposal to finance minister which claimed that the satellite would reach break-even within seven years of launching.
According to the BTRC, Bangabandhu 1 could annually save at least $14m, which the country’s 24 television channels have to pay to different foreign satellite companies for transmission.
In January 2012, the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the project, which was scheduled to start on July 1 that year and end by June 30, 2016, according to the draft DPP.
Ecnec initially set the timeframe for the project from July 2011 to June 2015.
Apart from the slot from Inter-Sputnik, the BTRC has also filed two more applications seeking separate orbital slots.
