Govt has not invested in SupremeSat - Minister Siyambalapitiya
by Uditha Kumarasinghe
Telecommunication and Information Technology Minister Ranjith
Siyambalapitiya told Parliament yesterday that the Government has not
made any investments in the launch of SupremeSat and none of the
satellite orbital slots belonging to Sri Lanka has been allocated for
this project.
Making a reply to a series of queries raised by Opposition Leader
Ranil Wickremesinghe in Parliament on December 6 regarding this project,
Minister Siyambalapitiya said according to particulars provided by the
Board of Investment, the SupremeSat Solutions (PVT) Limited is a company
registered under the provisions of the Companies Act No. 7 of 2007 and
its offices are situated at the 33rd Floor of the World Trade Centre.
The prime objective of this company is to provide efficient and low cost
broadband facilities to Sri Lankan consumers. The company has entered
into a joint venture agreement with the Great Wall Industrial
Corporation and Sino Satellite Communication Company in China.
The Minister said SupremeSat has submitted a project report to the
BOI which has set out the procedure to achieve their objective in three
phases. The first phase would be launched in 2012, the second in 2013
and the third in 2015. The estimated investment for the first phase will
be US $ 4 million, for the second phase US $ 15 million and the third
phase stands at US $ 300 million. The BOI gave its approval on May 15,
2012 to SupremeSat to set up this project at the Pallekele Industrial
Zone on the basis of a no objection letter provided by the
Telecommunications Regulation Commission of Sri Lanka. The BOI approval
has been granted only for the first and second phases of the project.
Under the first phase an earth transmission centre would be set up
for up linking and down linking between the earth transmission centre
and the ChinaSat 12 (SupremeSat). It is planned to allow for
transmission from the SupremeSat satellite and the earth centre during
the second stage. It is also envisaged to launch another satellite into
orbit in the third phase.
The satellite orbital slots from 50 degree east and 121.5 degree east
have been allocated for Sri Lanka. The TRCSL has not given permission to
either a local or foreign company to use these slots. ChinaSat 12 uses
an orbital slot belonging to China as we have been informed.
The TRCSL has not given permission for a satellite project of the Sri
Lankan government.Since SupremeSat 1 satellite is not a Sri Lankan
government's project, its cost and the methodology of covering the cost
are not applicable.According to the information furnished by the BOI,
the local partners of the venture are Supreme Solutions Pvt Ltd
operating from the 33rd floor of the World Trade Centre. This is a 100
percent Sri Lankan private venture and their total investments for the
first and second phases are US $ 2.38 million. According to the BOI the
cost for the third phase would be earned from a loan obtained from a
foreign bank.
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