Measat And Astro Finalise Measat-3 Agreement

KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 (Bernama) -- Measat Satellite Systems Sdn Bhd announced today that it has finalised an agreement worth US$381 million with Astro All Asia Networks Plc's subsidiary, Measat Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd, for the utilisation of Ku-Band transponder capacity on the Measat-3 satellite.Under the agreement, Measat Satellite will provide Astro with up to 13 Ku-Band transponders on the Measat-3 spacecraft, representing over one quarter of the satellite's communication capacity.Measat Satellite's chief operating officer Paul Brown-Kenyon said in a statement that the Ku-Band payload was designed to support direct-to-home (DTH) operators across Malaysia, Indonesia and South Asia."With the enhanced capacity of Measat-3, Astro has been able to introduce numerous new services, including new channels and Astro-on-Demand. Our customers can look forward to more new services over the next 12 months," said Astro TV's chief executive officer Rohana Rozhan.Brown-Kenyon said that 13 other customers were now leasing capacity on the Measat-3 satellite, including Radio Televisyen Malaysia, TV3, Ho Chi Minh City Television. Celcom and BBC Worldwide."We are delighted by the initial take-up of capacity on the new satellite. Having reached almost 50 percent utilisation, we expect the satellite to be operating close to capacity by year-end," he said.