…..Solomon Islands loses out on investment opportunities.

 

THE decision by the Government to award its multi-million dollar submarine cable project to Chinese telecommunications giant, Huawei, has cost Solomon Islands access to cheaper and viable broadband satellite and a good return on investment.

This was revealed yesterday as Kacific Broadband Satellite Pte Ltd announced it had ordered its Kacific-1 satellite from the Boeing Company (Boeing) based on its 702 satellite platform.

“This condominium satellite will be shared with JCSAT-18, ordered by SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation,” the Singapore-based company announced in Singapore yesterday.

“Kacific closed a US$147 million financing round in late 2016 with a mix of equity, debt and customer prepayments which cover the purchase of the satellite, launch service, ground systems and all other project costs. To secure this funding, Kacific has signed 15 managed bandwidth wholesale agreements in 14 different countries for a total value of US$434 million,” it said in a statement.

Solomon Islands National Provident Fund (SINPF) was part of a consortium, backing the satellite project but the move was allegedly rejected by the Minister of Finance and Treasury, Hon Snyder Rini.

“Investment in this broadband satellite was cheaper and more viable with good returns on investment than the submarine cable being implemented by Huawei,” an insider told Island Sun.

In the statement issued in Singapore, the company said:

“Kacific-1 is designed to deliver uncontended broadband throughput via 57 Ka-band narrow beams, each having a capacity up to 1.25Gbps, with the highest signal power ever achieved in the region.

“The beams are selectively tailored to cover precise pockets of demand in a geographically dispersed footprint of 20 Pacific and South East Asian nations. Strategic positioning of the beams has enabled Kacific to sell capacity in 51 out of 57 beams so far, through take-or-pay contracts, with most beams exceeding 70 per cent firm capacity bookings and several being almost saturated.

“Kacific selected the Boeing 702 because it is a reliable High-Throughput Satellite platform delivering strong economics and a consistent high-quality connectivity across all service beams.”

“We are confident that Kacific-1 is a sound commercial project that will have a major positive impact on the lives of millions throughout South East Asia and the Pacific. Capacity is already sold in 51 of its 57 beams, with most beams exceeding 70 per cent firm capacity bookings and several being almost saturated.”

“Boeing is pleased Kacific has chosen our flight-proven scalable 702 satellite for its next-generation broadband satellite service,” Mark Spiwak, president of Boeing Satellite Systems International, said.

“The capability and performance of the Boeing 702 satellite will enable Kacific to meet increasing demands for connectivity in the Asia-Pacific region, reaching new and under-served markets with reliable and cost-effective satellite internet services,” he said.

“We do pure play broadband. We focus on direct-to-premise. We precisely place capacity where it is most needed,” Christian Patouraux, Kacific CEO, said.

“This will yield price points that will unleash internet participation and usage. With the launch of Kacific-1, in 2019, people in areas currently lacking affordable high speed internet will be able to access online education, healthcare and public services, and grow their local economies,” Patouraux said.

“Delivering internet speeds over 100 Mbps on low cost, small form factor terminals, will help connect the dots of South East Asia and the Pacific to the digital world”.

“Driven by its entrepreneurial culture and early sales success in Asia-Pacific, Kacific is now expanding its model to other regions with plans for follow-on satellites.”