By Richard Braddell
WELLINGTON - Australia's telecommunications giant, Telstra, has agreed in principle to distribute interactive broadband services via satellite to New Zealand, Australia and South-east Asia starting in 2002.
The agreement with one of the low orbit satellite companies, SkyBridge, would give Telstra the capability to provide high capacity interactive services
such as the Internet to remote rural areas in Australia as well as to New Zealand.
Telstra will have first option to become an equity partner in SkyBridge's regional service provider to Australasia and South-east Asia.
SkyBridge, which is a consortium of companies led by Alcatel, is to launch a constellation of 80 satellites that, because of their low orbit, handle the uplink from customers as well as the downlink.
Telstra's manager for satellite services, Bob Hinrichs, said plans for New Zealand were still formulative but, while the agreement was conditional upon due diligence, he fully expected it to go ahead.
Telstra's entry into satellite delivery of broadband telecommunications services would bring it into competition with the Australian parent of Wellington-based Saturn Communications, Austar International.
Austar operates a pay-television business servicing rural Australia from geo-stationary satellites and has plans to enter other telecommunications services.
Reports of institutional comments during Austar's book building process indicate that perhaps 20 per cent of Austar International will be floated for around $A350 million, valuing the entire company at $A1.75 billion.
Mr Hinrichs said that while SkyBridge's satellites could not distribute pay television economically, they were much more cost effective than geo-stationary satellites in delivering interactive services such as the Internet.
