BOGOR, KOMPAS – After a long journey from its launch to its orbital position at 118 degrees eastern longitude, Telkom’s Satellite 3 has officially been taken into operation by its owner, state-owned telecommunication company PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telkom).
The operation of the satellite, which was launched on Feb.14, marks a milestone in realizing outer space independence for Indonesia.
Operational control of Telkom 3S was officially handed over to Telkom on Monday by Thales Alenia Space, the satellite manufacturer, which had guided the satellite’s journey since its launch from Guiana Space Center in Kourou, French Guiana.
With a capacity of 49 transponders, the new Telkom 3S will replace the Telkom 2satellite, which had only half the capacity and which will be taken out of orbit soon.
Telkom plans to launch the Telkom 4 satellite in mid-2018 to replace Telkom-1 at the orbital position of 108 degrees east.
"The required number of transponders to serve Indonesia is 300. National satellite operators are only able to provide half of that. Telkom will not only seek to increase capacity, but also to optimize the type of transponder so that services become more diverse," State-Owned Enterprises Minister Rini Soemarno said during the inauguration of Telkom 3S satellite operations in an earth control station in Cibinong, Bogor, West Java, on Monday.
Remote area
PT Telkom President Director Alex Janangkih Sinaga said the control and operations of the satellites were conducted by Telkom technicians.
The new satellite also serves remote areas of the country as the backbone of the internet. Telkom 3S has transponder specifications of C-band, C-Band Extended, Ku-Band and Ku-Band Extended. The last two are used to deliver bandwidth to remote areas.
At the event, a video conference test was carried out from three isolated areas, namely Lereh village in the district of Kaureh, Jayapura regency, Papua; Senaning village in the district of Ketungau Hulu, Sintang, West Kalimantan; and Desa Tanjung in Sub Bunguran Northeast, Natuna, Riau Islands. The test, which was carried out through mobile internet connections from Telkomsel, went smoothly without disruption.
Alex said that Telkom manages 109 transponders of the total need of 300 transponders and still uses 28 transponders of foreign satellites. "The use of satellite transponders will decline, because we are also installing optical fiber [cables] to all cities in Indonesia with a targeted coverage of 86 percent," Alex added.
Telkom might also add to the number of satellite by using slots owned by domestic carriers that are not being used.
The head of satellite management of the Communications and Information Ministry, Mulyadi, said two orbital slots would soon expire, namely 113 degrees east, owned by Indosat, and 146 degrees east, managed by Pacific Satellite Nusantara. Two years ahead of the expiry, the slot owners should make new satellite procurement contracts, so that the slots are not taken by other countries.
(ELD)
