Simón Bolívar satellite to contribute to Internet development in the Andean countries

Lima, Feb 25, 2000. The Simón Bolívar satellite will be put into orbit in mid 2002 to give Andean countries an appropriate platform for communications and contribute to the development of the Internet in the subregion.

So announced Andesat’s Executive President, Colombian citizen Luis Hernando Escobar, on attending the X Special Meeting of the Andean Committee of Telecommunications Authorities (CAATEL).

Created in 1997, Andesat is the enterprise authorized by the Andean Community to make use of the orbit-spectrum resource of the five Andean countries. Comprised of 48 Bolivian, Colombian, Ecuadorian, Peruvian and Venezuelan companies, it signed a strategic alliance in 1999 with the French firm Alcatel, giving birth to the fledgling Bolivarsat corporation.

One of the first fruits of this strategic alliance was the identification of the 61-degree orbital position to replace that of 78.5 degrees which, in Escobar’s words has become "virtually unusable." He went on to say that this "will guarantee excellent coverage throughout America from Canada to Argentina, together with southern Europe, and western Africa."

The new orbital position, he explained, "will enable us to reach Portugal, Spain, France and part of Great Britain," with the added advantage that by entering Europe, which is interlinked by optical fiber, "we can reach any point we wish."

In exchange for the exclusive right to use the Andean Community’s orbital positions, the five countries will enjoy the possibility of using, at a discount, the 7.5 percent of the physical capacity of the Simón Bolívar satellite assigned to the Andean subregion, to carry out Community activities for the benefit of their sociocultural integration.

The President of Andesat pointed out that this 7.5 percent encompasses a "very large capacity" that may be put to use for broadcasting teleducational programs, developing telemedicine, and boosting rural telephony, among other activities of interest to the subregion.

Escobar emphasized that "a basic objective of the Andean satellite is to contribute to the development of the Internet," for Latin America is a region with a still very low per capita use of the "network of networks."

Jupiter Communications, an on-line intelligence company, revealed this week that only 11 million Latin Americans are connected to the Internet, while in the United States the figure stands at 108 million.

By the year 2005, however, the ranks of Internet users in Latin America are expected to reach 67 million, or about 12 percent of the present population. This would represent a spectacular growth of 52 percent, far outpacing the expected 14 percent increase in the United States over the same period.

Recent market studies conducted by Andesat and Alcatel revealed that the development of the Internet accounts for the lion’s share of the satellite capacity in the Americas and everything would tend to indicate that this trend will hold for the next few years.

Escobar pointed out that the aspiration is to sign the construction contact for the satellite during the first half of this year so that it can be put into orbit within 18 to 22 months’ time.

Although Andesat owns 51 percent of the shares and Alcatel the other 49, the two companies can alter the percentage of their shareholding at any moment to allow for the entry of new investor partners or strategic alliances.

"With economic integration moving ahead at the regional and international levels, the world satellite market is evolving rapidly toward greater globalization. The idea of essentially national satellites can no longer be entertained, " Escobar concluded.