Thailand is bracing for a shortage of capacity on satellite transponders used for digital television, as broadcasters are rapidly expanding digital channels.
Visitors explore space technology at the NASA-A Human Adventure in Chiba, Japan. The exhibition will be organised in Thailand by Thaicom for the first time in December at the Bangkok Convention Center, 5th floor, CentralPlaza Lardprao.
The local satellite capacity could face a shortage next year, thanks to a surge in demand for high-definition (HD) channels, said Suphajee Suthumpun, chief executive of Thaicom Plc, the country's sole satellite service provider.
"This is the second time this has happened; the first was during the telecoms boom before the financial crisis in 1997," she said.
As of June, there are 677 satellite TV channels in Thailand, with 146 HD channels, up from 74 HD channels out of 640 satellite channels in 2013.
"The number of HD TV channels will increase exponentially as we expect to see healthy growth in this market, thanks to its growing popularity because of its crystal-clear pictures and sounds," she said.
To deal with the overwhelming demand, Mrs Suphajee said Thaicom is accelerating plans to launch its eighth satellite, Thaicom 8, by early 2016. The 24-transponder broadcast satellite will cost about US$170 million and be positioned in the orbital slot 78.5 degrees.
But Thaicom 8 launch could face a long delay as the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission took six months to approve Thaicom's proposal for the new satellite before it could apply for a new operating licence.
Thaicom is also preparing to launch its Thaicom 7 satellite this September in the orbital slot 120 degrees east. The $170-million telecoms satellite is designed to serve the content delivery network market.
"We could sell half the bandwidth of Thaicom 7 in Asia," said Mrs Suphajee.
Thaicom has three satellites in services. Thaicom 4, or iPstar, is now at 54% bandwidth usage, while Thaicom 5 and 6 satellites serving Thailand are at full capacity.
Mrs Suphajee said the company is in talks with several satellite operators to rent an interim satellite and ease the congestion on Thaicom's transponders.
She said the boom in demand for both digital TV and HD video broadcasting are driving satellite service growth. Demand for bandwidth-intensive HD video has increased the need for satellite capacity, forcing operators to expand or maximise the utilisation of their in-orbit fleets to provide services worldwide.
"The local broadcasting market is poised to grow exponentially over the next few years," said Mrs Suphajee.
Ekachai Phakdurong, vice-president for corporate affairs of Thaicom, said there is demand in Thailand for at least 10 more transponders, coming from Asia, South Asia and South Africa. Ten transponders can serve up to 80 HD channels, he said.
Once the company launches Thaicom 7, it expects to reconfigure some traffic from the congested Thaicom 5 and 6 satellites to the new satellite.
Mr Ekachai admitted the limited supply of transponders has caused poor signal quality for some digital TV channels in Thailand. In addition, some operators have to wait to shift to HD broadcasting until transponders are available.
Mrs Suphajee said Thaicom expects its consolidated revenue to grow by 18% this year, boosted by the local broadcasting sector and an effective cost reduction programme.
"We are likely to record a profit this year, our third consecutive year after racking up losses the previous seven years," she said. Mrs Suphajee attributed the company's turnaround to its cross-partnership marketing strategy.
Thaicom has 3 billion baht in cash flow.
Mrs Suphajee said the recent merger of GMM Grammy and CTH created a clearer picture of the broadcasting industry. "I believe there will be more digital and pay TV mergers to reduce production costs, particularly for content, and lower competition."
THCOM shares closed unchanged yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 34.75 baht in trade worth 170 million baht.