The company merges with Telekom Kombëtar
Broadband Internet services provided by low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite company OneWeb are expected to be launched locally by the fourth quarter of this year.
The service is a partnership between OneWeb and the state-owned telecom company Kombëtar Telekom (NT).
NT provides gate station equipment for OneWeb’s LEO satellite operator, while OneWeb operates the business under NT’s landing rights license, according to Col Sanphachai Huvanandana, NT’s president.
The planned launch of the service follows the May 27 resolution of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) to approve the partnership to provide broadband satellite internet services in Thailand under NT down rights.
Col. Sanphachai told him Bangkok Post NT will benefit from the partnership by earning fees from providing the gateway and facility service to OneWeb.
NT will also share revenue with OneWeb from NT’s plan to wholesale some of OneWeb’s satellite broadband capacity into the domestic market, he said.
OneWeb’s satellite broadband service is not considered a threat to the existing fiber broadband service market, but could affect broadband service provided by geostationary satellites, said Col Sanphachai.
NT is applying for a license to provide foreign satellite broadband services for a portion of OneWeb’s LEO broadband capacity in the domestic market.
He said the partnership expects to launch broadband Internet service via OneWeb satellites by the fourth quarter of this year, four months behind the original timeline.
NT submitted its proposal to the NBTC for the relevant licenses to provide the service last year, in line with the NBTC’s new licensing system for foreign satellites.
The NBTC licensing regime covers three categories of licences: landing rights, gateways and services.
Earlier, Col Sanphachai said the partnership seeks to monetize ground station facilities in Thailand and the deployment of regional services.
NT is expected to be a hub of OneWeb’s LEO satellite services for Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam. NT has already installed equipment related to the station facilities.
According to NT, the gateway station for OneWeb’s LEO link has been established at NT’s gateway station in Ubon Ratchathani province.
Under the partnership, OneWeb hires NT to develop, equip and operate ground station facilities in Thailand at NT’s satellite station.
The ground station infrastructure and services enable the deployment of commercial broadband services via LEO satellites by OneWeb in Thailand and the region.
The gateway station is owned by NT, while the related equipment is imported from OneWeb.
THAICOM OPPORTUNITIES
Pisut Ngamvijitvong, senior equity research analyst at Kasikorn Securities (KS), said Thaicom’s chief financial officer told KS that the partnership between NT and OneWeb did not surprise Thaicom as NT completed construction of OneWeb’s land station in Ubon Ratchathani a few months before.
OneWeb’s current bandwidth capacity for Thailand is only 2 gigabits per second (Gbps), the brokerage said.
Thaicom is exploring business opportunities with NT and OneWeb after working with OneWeb in Australia, he said.
Mr. Pisut said the Thaicom executive stated that Thaicom offers superior competition in end-to-end solutions and pricing at user terminals.
However, KS predicts that the OneWeb-NT partnership agreement is negative for Thaicom.
Under the worst-case scenario, Thaicom’s barrier-to-entry advantage will be jeopardized, the brokerage said.
NBTC’s approval could set a precedent for other foreign satellite operators to penetrate the Thai market, according to KS.
However, he said the mediation could not rule out the possibility that Thaicom could become a major business partner of NT and OneWeb, or that Thaicom could file a petition against the regulator’s decision regarding the NT-OneWeb alliance.
Mr. Pisut said it is premature to suggest possible financial impacts for Thaicom from this partnership.
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