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South Africa would embark on a feasibility study to investigate the viability of acquiring and operating a South African regional communications satellite, based on the projected regional requirements for telecommunications and broadcasting over the next 10 to 15 years.

Making the announcement today (Wednesday, March 10, 1999), Jay Naidoo, Minister for Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting, said Cabinet had approved the proposal and the study would commence immediately and should be completed with the next six to nine months.

The immediate objectives of a South African satellite programme would be to:

* Establish a co-ordinated South African satellite programme;
* Acquire and operate a regional telecommunications satellite for South Africa, and;
* Establish a skills base of people trained in various aspects of satellite technology. "Work done by Stellenbosch University on its Sunsat micro-satellite has already made a valuable contribution in this regard and I expect to be able to make an announcement about a major initiative satellite technology training next month."

South Africa, through the various users of satellite facilities such as Telkom, Sentech, Transtel, Orbicom and others, spend between R450 million and R550 million annually on leasing transponder capacity on international geo-stationary satellites for the purpose of relaying telecommunications and broadcasting traffic. Currently, South Africa is the 18th largest user of Intelsat services in the world.

Within the next five years, spend on leasing transponder capacity is expected to increase at the rate of 14% per annum, to almost R1 billion per year.

"Economic activity in South Africa, either directly or indirectly attributable to space applications, is estimated a around R2,4 billion with an expected annual growth of around 14% Naidoo said.

"World wide and in South Africa, the largest commercial use of satellite services is in the telecommunications and broadcasting sector, and the demand for telecommunications services will increase substantially in the next few years as we move into the 21st Century and the new Information Society," he says.

In the period from 1964 to 1969, only 13 geo-stationary satellites were launched. In the next decade (1970 - 1979) this figure increased to 73, to 171 in the following decade. From 1990 until June last year, 210 communication satellites have been launched.

An in-depth study would give a clear picture of the country's existing and projected growth in the need for satellite communications in the next two decades, Naidoo said.

"South Africa is the only country in the sub-Saharan region able to initiate and support a structured and co-ordinated satellite programme. Apart from direct benefits to be had from operating a regional satellite, there are other benefits which are less quantifiable but no less tangible in the long term," Naidoo said.

These include:

* Growth of scientific knowledge in space applications that will be applied for the better management and use of natural resources;
* General development and growth of the education level;
* Assuring long-term technological competitiveness in a growing world wide space industry;
* Positioning South Africa as an equal player in the world space applications field.

"We will probably set up a specialised team of people to conduct this feasibility study, and it will include representatives from the relevant state departments, financiers, communications and broadcasting experts, satellite operators and service providers," Naidoo said.

A meeting of more than 50 private-sector companies would be briefed tomorrow (Thursday, March 11, 1999) on this issue.

Naidoo stressed that South Africa's satellite programme would be complimentary to any other similar initiatives in Africa. "In 1996, at a meeting held in South Africa, I was elected chairperson of the Assembly of Parties of RASCOM." RASCOM is a regional satellite association that aims to launch a dedicated African broadcasting and telecommunications satellite. The RASCOM initiative has been endorsed by the OAU.

Satellite technology is expected to be a significant element of telecommunications infrastructure in Africa as it offers the most viable and cost-efficient opportunities to deliver communication and broadcast services to the most remote and rural of communities on the continent.

"This is supporting The African Connection initiative which is a programme aimed at increasing the roll-out of telecommunications infrastructure in Africa, be it cable, satellite, fixed-line or cellular," Naidoo says.

Issued by: Ministry for Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting, 10 March 1999

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