Accueil
Bolivia’s satellite fails to reach its full capacity
Juan Fernandez Gonzalez
| 26 August 2016
Almost three years after launching, Bolivia’s first state-owned satellite is still only leasing 70% of its capacity, the same as 12 months ago.
tksat 1However, the Agencia Boliviana Espacial (ABE) is confident of reaching full capacity by the end of 2017, while it keeps developing a project for a second satellite, set to launch before 2025.
While new commercial agreements haven’t been signed over the past year, the ABE claims that the TKSAT-1 satellite is meeting its profit goals and has so far invoiced 13.6% of the $300 million invested in its development.
According to Iván Zambrana, ABE’s president, in an interview with Bolivian newspaper Los Tiempos, the TKSAT-1 will reach an annual income of $35 million next year and will have invoiced $500 million once its 15-years operational time is over.
“Invoicing was low during the first months after launching, but figures have been growing and will continue to do so until we reach full capacity,” said Zambrana. In fact, the TKSAT-1 generated $7 million in 2014, $19 million in 2014 and it’s expected to invoice $26 million in 2016.
Offering all types of telecom services, most of which are commercialised by Entel - the national telco which owns over half of the satellite capacity - the TKSAT-1 delivers direct-to-home (DTH) free-to-air (FTA) and pay-TV across the entire country.
Juan Fernandez Gonzalez
| 26 August 2016
Almost three years after launching, Bolivia’s first state-owned satellite is still only leasing 70% of its capacity, the same as 12 months ago.
tksat 1However, the Agencia Boliviana Espacial (ABE) is confident of reaching full capacity by the end of 2017, while it keeps developing a project for a second satellite, set to launch before 2025.
While new commercial agreements haven’t been signed over the past year, the ABE claims that the TKSAT-1 satellite is meeting its profit goals and has so far invoiced 13.6% of the $300 million invested in its development.
According to Iván Zambrana, ABE’s president, in an interview with Bolivian newspaper Los Tiempos, the TKSAT-1 will reach an annual income of $35 million next year and will have invoiced $500 million once its 15-years operational time is over.
“Invoicing was low during the first months after launching, but figures have been growing and will continue to do so until we reach full capacity,” said Zambrana. In fact, the TKSAT-1 generated $7 million in 2014, $19 million in 2014 and it’s expected to invoice $26 million in 2016.
Offering all types of telecom services, most of which are commercialised by Entel - the national telco which owns over half of the satellite capacity - the TKSAT-1 delivers direct-to-home (DTH) free-to-air (FTA) and pay-TV across the entire country.
