Local television (TV) channels would not require installing any earth station to get service from country’s first geostationary communication satellite Bangabandhu-1, said Bangladesh Communication Satellite Company Limited (BCSCL) Chairman Dr Shahjahan Mahmood on Saturday, reports BSS.
Dr Shahjahan said: “We would introduce an alternative service for the TV channels to minimize their cost.”
Mentioning that installation of earth station requires a big cost for TV channels, he said: “They would connect their TV channels with their ground station for transmissionthrough optical fibre.”
The BCSCL chairman said they run a trial round without an earth station by using fibre optic based service to the state-owned Bangladesh Television within 4-5 days. “We would replicate this service gradually to the private TV stations.”
Meanwhile, the French manufacturer Thales Alenia Space on Friday,from Florida,handed over the controlling authority of Bangabandhu-1 to BCSCL, which was launched by SpaceX in the orbit on May 12.
The trial broadcast of Bangabandhu-1 had been successfully done by airing the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF) Championship 2018, too.
On starting the commercial service, Dr Shahjahan said: “Our consultancy firm Thaicom would submit a market study shortly, and then we would go for next course of action.”
BCSCL has hired international consultancy firm Thaicom for two years to run marketing and sales operation of the connectivity of Bangabandhu-1 in six countries, including four neighbours. The Thai firm is currently active in 20 countries.
Mentioning that BCSCL mobilized a good and efficient marketing team, Dr Mahmood earlier said: “Our agency will mainly concentrate on international business rather than being engaged in the local market.”
Thales launched the Bangabandhu-1 at a cost of Tk2,765 crore and according to the plan, it will reach break-even within seven years of commencement of its commercial service.
Located at the 119.1 east geostationary slot, Bangabandhu-1 would cover the SAARC countries and Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkestan and a part of Kazakhstan.
The coverage is the strongest in Indonesia, the Philippines, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bhutan, for which these six countries have initially been chosen for business.
The satellite’s operations include “direct-to-home” service for TV channels, VSAT (very small aperture terminal), backhaul and network restoration, disaster preparedness and relief, and many others.
