PRESS RELEASE, HAPS 2001:“AEROSTAT AS A PRILIMINARY SOLUTION TOWARD COST EFFECTIVE WIRELESS SYSTEM”.
ASSI © 2001, by: Dr. Krishnahadi S. Pribadi, Chairman, ASSI HAPSNAS Group.
PRESS RELEASE
On June 27th 2001, The Indonesian Satellite Association (ASSI) held press release in PII building, Jakarta, Indonesia, with speakers are Dr. Krishnahadi S. Pribadi as Chairman of ASSI HAPS-NAS Group (High Altitude Platform System National Group) and Dr. Arifin Nugroho as Chairman of ASSI. They announce that ASSI has selected and decided to support and recommend to its membership and the Government of Indonesia, the U.S. based Platforms Wireless International (PWI) Corporation’s Airborne Relay Communications ‘ARC’ System to provide national telecommunications and Internet services in Indonesia.
The text of press release by : DR. KRISHNAHADI S. PRIBADI
INDONESIAN SATELLITE ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES SELECTION OF U.S. BASED PLATFORMS WIRELESS INTERNATIONAL CORPORATION FOR NATIONAL DEPLOYMENT OF HIGH ALTITUDE TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND INTERNET PLATFORM SYSTEMS
The Indonesian Satellite Association (ASSI) announced today that, following an extensive study and evaluation of high altitude wireless telecommunications and internet systems, it has selected and decided to support and recommend to its membership and the Government of Indonesia, the U.S. based Platforms Wireless International Corporation’s Airborne Relay Communications "ARC" System to provide national telecommunications and Internet services to Indonesia.
ASSI is a non-profit organisation, whose purpose is to study, recommend, develop and acquire advanced, space-related technology for the benefit of its members and Indonesian society as a whole, as well as to apply such technology for the national interest. Membership in ASSI is comprised of the major Indonesian satellite operators, and most major companies in the telecommunications, electronics, and telematics industries, as well as other parties interested in space-related technology, including most major educational institutions.
Since the beginning of the year 2000, ASSI decided that among the technology fields which have the greatest potential and strategic importance for Indonesia’s socio-economic future specifically, and for developing countries, generally, is the technology known as High Altitude Platforms Systems, or "HAPS." This technology uses an airborne vehicle or platform which flies at an altitude of 5 to 20 kilometers and carries an electronic payload which can be used for many different functions, such as telecommunications, broadcasting, navigation, remote sensing, and many other applications. Different satellites, including the Palapa satellite are performing some of those functions at this time. By using the HAPS platform those functions can be performed at much lower costs, compared to satellite-based applications. Besides dramatic economic advantages, HAPS Platforms do not need to be launched by expensive rockets, and the HAPS operating position is much closer to the earth, reducing the radiated signal power requirements, and the associated time delays in transmissions to and from the platform. Therefore, HAPS utilises terminals (standard, off-the-shelf handsets) which are far less expensive than the high-powered, non-standard handsets required for satellites. Besides, HAPS are "recoverable" vehicles. This means they can be brought back to earth and readily serviced, maintained, upgraded, and re-deployed, eliminating the significant "sunk costs" associated with satellites. Once a satellite is launched into orbit, it cannot be brought back to earth for repairs, or to be modified and/or enhanced. Therefore, the cost of the rocket launch and the telecommunications satellite, which can run upwards of US$200 million are "sunk costs." This translates into very costly operating overhead, which eventually finds its way into the consumer’s telephone bill
One form of HAPS which ASSI has identified as a key technology for the 21st century is the "Stratospheric Communications Platform," which consists of a giant balloon with a length of 200 meters or more, filled with Helium noble gas, which can fly at an altitude of 18 to 20 kilometers. This platform is fitted with solar cells which provide the power to maintain the vehicle in a stationary position relative to earth ("Station Keeping"), and to power the electronic payload which is designed to perform various missions, such as telecommunications, remote sensing, environmental monitoring, etc. It is estimated that this stratospheric technology will begin to be deployed commercially around 2005, and ASSI is committed to develop and implement such a technology for Indonesia within that time period. In line with that commitment, ASSI has conducted numerous studies to define the strategic steps required for Indonesia to achieve its Stratospheric Communications Platform goal. The ARC/KRA System was selected as the appropriate, cornerstone technology to begin developing the program, as well as for use as a strategic catalyst to aid in the recovery and advancement of Indonesia’s national economy.
As part of ASSI’s commitment to the development and acquisition of HAPS technology for Indonesia, since the beginning of the year 2000, ASSI has formed a special panel called the National HAPS ("HAPSNAS") Group, chaired by Dr. Krishnahadi S. Pribadi, an internationally renowned telecommunications and space technology authority.
Based on the studies conducted by the HAPSNAS Group, ASSI has selected the ARC System as the bridge technology necessary to initiate Indonesia’s progression towards the Stratospheric HAPS System. The interim System, an airborne telecommunications platform designed by Platforms Wireless International Corporation, is called the "Airborne Relay Communications System (ARC)." This airborne telecommunications application in Indonesian is called Sistem Komunikasi Relay Angkasa ("KRA"). The three major components of the ARC/KRA System are: (i) an Aerostat -- a giant balloon filled with Helium noble gas that is lighter than air and capable of carrying payloads up to 1,000 kilograms; (ii) a communications technology payload; and (iii) an earth-based command and control station. The ARC/KRA System operates at an altitude of 5,000 meters (15,000 feet) and remains in a fixed position relative to earth. The Aerostat carries an electronics payload that serves as a communications transponder, to provide wireless communications to a coverage area 220 kilometres in diameter, or 38,000 square-kilometres. To cover the equivalent area using cellular phone towers, approximately 440 towers would be required, representing an approximate investment of more than US$300 million in Indonesia. The ARC/KRA System requires approximately US$30 million, or 10% of the comparable terrestrial tower investment.
The ARC/KRA System, therefore, offers one of the most advanced solutions to the systemic problems presently causing the most serious problems to the global telecommunications industry’s bottom line: A cost-effective airborne infrastructure that: (i) allows carriers to make profits; (ii) eliminates costly, long-term infrastructure debt and associated interest charges; and (iii) offers affordable cellular services to people in rural areas and emerging nations.
The ARC/KRA System will provide an effective solution to Indonesia’s national telecommunications infrastructure problems, as well as help the telecommunications industry to: (i) meet the Universal Service Obligations ("USO") requirements; and (ii) help solve the critical global "digital divide" problem. The national rollout of the ARC/KRA System will provide telecommunications and internet services to the general Indonesian population, including rural areas. Multiple wireless communications applications and local System production will help provide wireless telecommunications systems for telephone and Internet applications with much lower capital investment requirements, compared to conventional telecommunications technology. The ARC/KRA System promises telephone and internet service costs which will be affordable to the people in rural areas, through significantly lower capital investment requirements, which translate into more affordable wireless telephone and Internet service rates.
The ARC/KRA System is designed around a modular System architecture infrastructure, and it is easily modifiable and upgradeable for use with various industry standard protocols, such as GSM, CDMA, TDMA, Trunking, and 3G-IMT2000, or even a proprietary protocol, such as a national standard. If a standard protocol is used, then existing, off-the-shelf terminals, such as today’s cell-phones can be used directly. The frequencies that can be used with this System are quite flexible, ranging from 450 MHz, 800MHz, 900MHz, 1800MHz, as well as the IMT2000 frequency band which was assigned to Indonesia for HAPS use by WARC2000 in Turkey last year. One of the advantages of this System is that the frequencies that have been used for old generation cell-phones such as for 450MHz and 800MHz (Nordic system and AMPS) can be re-used and utilised more efficiently.
In the near term, the primary applications for the ARC/KRA System in Indonesia will be for fixed-cellular rural telephone and Internet. These applications are very beneficial for low-cost telephone and Internet applications. It is expected that the national rollout of the ARC/KRA System will promote the growth of many Kiosphones (Wartel) and Cybercafe’s (Warnet) in rural areas, which are now limited to locations in the vicinity of urban areas. In this fashion, the ARC/KRA System can provide telephone and Internet services, which at this time (and in the time to come) cannot be provided by conventional wireline and wireless cellular phone technologies due to geographical limitations and prohibitive costs.
The ARC/KRA System, depending on the specific System configuration used, will be capable of servicing up to 500,000 subscribers per platform, therefore reducing capital investment costs to approximately $60 per subscriber, or 10% of the comparable investment required by conventional telecommunications networks.
It must be emphasized that the primary role of the ARC/KRA System planned for telecommunications in Indonesia, is to perform distribution access functions (or Network Access), or in conventional telecommunications terminology "the last mile connection," and not to perform the backbone or national network functions. In this manner the deployment of the ARC/KRA System will help optimize the Indonesian national telecommunications network, including the use of the existing satellite system as the national/international transmission infrastructure, which in the end will benefit from service expansion and broader telecommunications access to the population with a greater market base. The regional nature of the ARC/KRA System coverage is also consistent with the regional autonomy of Indonesia. It can, therefore, accelerate the economic development of each region, through the expansion of the regional telecommunications infrastructure, as opposed to the satellite system, which is national in scope.
In addition to telecommunications and Internet applications, the ARC/KRA System Aerostat platform can also be used for other important needs, for example: TV broadcasting, environmental monitoring (forest fires, forest cutting/destruction), monitoring of agriculture and marine/fishery, weather and disaster monitoring, border patrol, air traffic control, and monitoring of illegal trafficking activities. The implementation of some of these alternate applications will reduce the operational costs of the System even further, so the operational costs for each function is reduced, or even becomes free for certain critical and emergency applications.
On this important occasion, ASSI would also like to announce it’s full support for the use and the deployment of the ARC/KRA System technology on a national basis for Indonesia. The application and deployment of the ARC/KRA System technology nationally is a key strategic step in this 21st century for the socio-economic future of Indonesia. The ARC/KRA System can play a key role in the national economic recovery of Indonesia, by assisting and fostering the growth and development of the small/medium business enterprises, which are facilitated by the telecommunications and Internet system infrastructures. The ARC/KRA System can also spur the growth and development of the national telematics industries, through PT Automatrix Cipta Mandiri’s strategic partners, or through other industrial partners, under the umbrella of ASSI, to meet the Indonesian market needs and the large product export potential from System product spin-offs.
ASSI periodically conducts an international HAPS seminar, inviting the leading international authorities in HAPS technology to present scientific papers and to participate in panel discussions related to HAPS technology. The HAPS-2000 seminar was held in Bandung, on September 25th and 26th. The seminar was attended by the leading international experts in HAPS technology, including representatives from prestigious international agencies, such as NSA from Japan and NASA from the United States. In 2001, ASSI plans to hold its international HAPS-2001 workshop, also in the month of September. The seminar will include special presentations on the ARC System, as the technology Indonesia has chosen to bridge the way to the stratospheric airship communications station, and to help close the global "digital divide."
Contact Information:
Krishnahadi S. Pribadi, Ph.D. / Chairman, HAPSNAS Group
Asosiasi Satelit Indonesia ("ASSI")
kpribadi@indo.net.id / www.assi.or.id
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