State-owned telecom enterprise National Telecom (NT), in partnership with low earth orbit (LEO) satellite company OneWeb, has requested the telecom regulator's permission to provide gateway station facilities to serve a foreign satellite.
The proposal submitted to the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) includes a requirement for the import of equipment related to the station's facilities and the use of some frequencies for signal uplink and downlink.
NT chief executive Col Sanphachai Huvanandana said the gateway station to be used for OneWeb's LEO connectivity will be established at NT's gateway station in Ubon Ratchathani province, which is being prepared for the expansion.
Col Sanphachai said the move aims to cash in on ground station facilities in Thailand. NT's entry into services related to LEO satellites is part of its business diversification to complement its satellite services portfolio.
OneWeb plans to hire NT to set up, equip and operate the ground station facilities in Ubon Ratchathani for Oneweb's LEO satellite constellation. The station is expected to complete the expansion of facilities to serve Oneweb's LEO satellites by the fourth quarter of 2023.
The infrastructure and services of the ground station would enable OneWeb to offer a commercial broadband service via its LEO satellites in Thailand and the region.
The gateway station will be owned by NT, while the related equipment would be imported by OneWeb.
NT is responsible for operating the station and the maintenance system. OneWeb will be responsible for expenses in terms of public utilities and will pay a rental fee to NT.
Col Sanphachai said NT is looking for opportunities to distribute some of its broadband services via OneWeb's LEO satellites, although NT has yet to hold discussions with OneWeb on this matter.
NT and OneWeb began their discussions last year for the development of the gateway station at NT's facilities in Thailand and began discussions with NBTC's management on this issue three months ago, he said.
In March mu Space, an aerospace manufacturer and satellite internet service provider based in Southeast Asia, and OneWeb announced they had signed an exclusive deal to provide OneWeb's LEO connectivity solutions across mainland Southeast Asia, including Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar and Malaysia.
Mu Space will be OneWeb's sole partner in mainland Southeast Asia and will be the sole distributor of a wide range of services to many sectors to support customer requirements for connecting remote communities in the region.
This agreement will help remote locations gain access to internet connectivity in order to serve their daily lives.
Additionally, remote education and healthcare are other possible use cases for the advanced connectivity offered by mu Space and OneWeb. The deal could see an estimated 3 billion baht in revenue in the first six years of serving the mainland Southeast Asia region.
After six years, mu Space has the right to extend the deal. OneWeb will have 648 satellites launched into space by the second quarter of this year.
A source from the NBTC board who requested anonymity said NBTC has awarded licences to several companies under the licensing regime for offering domestic services using foreign satellites both in a geostationary satellite orbit (GSO) and non-geostationary satellite orbit (NGSO) such as an LEO.
Under the NBTC's regulations, the landing licence for a foreign satellite requires a fee of 7% of the total revenue generated in Thailand, while a landing licence for a Thai satellite requires a fee of 4% of the total revenue generated.
The source said NBTC has talked with several global LEO players in an effort to persuade them to cooperate with local players in the development of ground stations and the provision of broadband services in the country.
The global players include Oneweb as well as Starlink, a satellite internet constellation operated by the American aerospace company SpaceX.
The source added that the NBTC met Starlink's regional executives twice for discussions within the same year.
However, Starlink's intent in terms of business and marketing in the country is not in line with the relevant Thai laws as the company wants to invest directly on its own rather than via a local partner.
LEO satellites operate at between 500 kilometres and 2,000 km above the earth's surface compared to the 36,000-km height of geostationary satellites, which are considered to be the most traditional type of communications satellites.
The advantage of the lower orbit is lower latency. This would benefit everyone who has access to high-speed internet services via 5G technology, Internet of Things devices, machine to machine technology, drone technology as well as applications in areas that require a high degree of accuracy, such as remote surgery.