ShinSat's head of marketing Patompob Suwansiri said yesterday that the satellite would be moved from the orbital slot of 78.5 degrees East to 50.5 degrees East after the launch of Thaicom 5.

The move will take place after Thaicom 5 is launched and ShinSat completes the transfer of Thaicom 3 customers to Thaicom 5, he added.

The Thaicom 5 broadcasting satellite is scheduled for launch by the end of this month.

Thaicom 3 has been plagued by glitches in the power supplies of certain Ku-Band transponders since 2003.

The satellite will be retired at the end of next year.

Thaicom 5, which cost about US$100 million (Bt3.78 billion), will incur depreciation costs of around $1.8 million per quarter, said the company's vice president for finance, Tanadit Charoenchan.

In the first quarter, ShinSat posted a net loss of Bt58 million, versus a net profit of Bt188.6 million over the same period last year.

The turnaround is attributed to rising expenses.

Its costs surged to Bt1.84 billion in the quarter from Bt988.9 million over the same period last year due to full recognition of depreciation, related interest expenses, and the high costs associated with its iPSTAR broadband satellite, which was launched last August. The satellite started operating in December. The company now books Bt730 million per quarter in depreciation costs for a total of four satellite assets - Thaicom 1, 2, 3, and iPSTAR.

However, ShinSat posted sales and service revenue of Bt1.75 billion in the first quarter, up 42.8 per cent year on year, due to an increase in income from satellite and related telecommunication services.

Tanadit said sales of the iPSTAR user terminal had tended to grow and the company was focusing on a plan to tap several new broadband markets, ranging through Indonesia, India, Japan and Malaysia.

ShinSat targets the sale of 100,000 iPSTAR terminal units this year.

 The cost of a terminal is about $1,000.

iPSTAR posted service revenue of Bt508 million in the first quarter, up from Bt178 million over the same period last year.

It sold 11,134 terminals during the period, up from 3,506 units.

ShinSat has targeted iPSTAR as its flagship. iPSTAR's footprint covers 14 Asia-Pacific countries. The satellite now has gateways in Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, New Zealand and Burma.

ShinSat is 51.5 per cent owned by Shin Corp, which was previously owned by caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's family.

The family sold a 49.6-per-cent stake in Shin to Singapore's Temasek Holdings in January.

Following tender offers, Temasek's interest in Shin now stands at more than 96 per cent.

The ShinSat share price yesterday closed at Bt13.70, down from Bt13.80 the day before.

Sirivish Toomgum

The Nation