| NewSat pans Optus, Ipstar in bid to for Government satellite funding |
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| Written by Stuart Corner | |
| Tuesday, 11 December 2007 | |
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Page 1 of 2 "The two major satellite operators in Australia, Optus and IPStar, are both now ultimately owned by the Singapore Government. Optus continues to emphasise the delivery of broadcast services and defence applications with its satellite investments. It has Ka band communications but does not make it available to consumers and so remote Australia does not benefit from its potential. IPStar is the brand name for Thaicom IV – Thaicom is a Shin Corporation subsidiary, and the Singapore Government holding company, Temasek, owns 49 percent of Cedar Holdings which in turn owns 54.53 percent of Shin Corporation, which owns 41 percent of Thaicom...The consequence is that Australia's remote communities are not served by reliable satellite communications, nor are their services devoid of possible disruption or scrutiny and control from third party government/s." This argument, however, is likely to carry little weight with the Australian Government, despite similar concerns raised recently by the Thai Government following Temasek's investment in Shin Corporation. The Department of Defence is a major user of Optus satellites and when Singapore Telecom bought Optus the issue of foreign control of this asset was the subject of much debate. However the Government made no objections. NewSat first revealed its plans for a new satellite at its AGM last month, saying that it would raise the estimated $400 million cost of the project by tipping in $100m itself, teaming up with a then un-identified multinational for another $100m and getting the rest from Federal Government funds earmarked for telecommunications. It has now made a formal submission to the Government's rural telecommunications enquiry in a bid to secure this funding, and has identified its finance partner as Cornell Capital Partners. |
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