"We see good prospects for satellite in Asia because the terresterial infrastructure here is not as developed as in the US," said Jacques Rossignol, Arianespace chief operating officer.

"There will be difficulties for the region to catch up with the fast expansion in the Internet and satellite is the solution," he told AFP on the sidelines of CommunicAsia 2000, a regional telecommunications show here.

Philippe Berterottiere, Arianespace vice president for sales and marketing, said Asia's strong economic recovery would spur further expansion in the region's telecommunication sector amid an Internet boom.

"We feel that satellites are going to bring a solution to Internet needs in Asia in particular. We see a strong demand for satellite in Asia in the coming years," he said.

Asia has not launched many satellites in the past two to three years but the region is expected to catch up.

Of Arienspace's 52 customers worldwide, Berterottiere said 15 are Asian companies which jointly contribute about one-fifth to the company's total sales. It now dominates two-thirds of the Asian and global market.

Rossignol added that Asia's economic rebound had sparked renewed interest by the financial community in funding satellite projects.

Of the total 211 contracts signed since Arianespace was formed in 1980, 39 satellites are for the Asia-Pacific market led by Japan with 17 and India 8, officials said.

Of the total, 40 satellites, worth about 3.26 billion euros (3.12 billion dollars), have not yet been launched, partly due to technical problems faced by the manufacturers.

"Despite the financial crisis, several contracts have been signed in this region over the last three years. North Asia, and in particular Japan, has been particularly active," according to a company statement.

In 1997, Arianespace was chosen to launch Telkom 1 for Indonesia and Koreasat 3 for Korea Telecom. The company said the market showed "clear signs of picking up" since last year when it won contracts in Japan and Australia.

"Had it not been for the regional crisis... it is probable that many more satellites would have been launched by regional satellite operators," it said.

Arianespace said the opening of its regional office in Singapore in 1997 would prepare the company to consolidate its market leadership.

As of the end of May, the company said it had launched three satellites for Asia this year -- the same as for the whole of last year -- and planned another two for the rest of the year in the region.

Arianespace, which is a consortium comprising 53 shareholders from 12 European countries, posted sales of 975.9 million euros last year, down from 1.086 billion euros in 1998. Copyright 2000 AFP. All rights reserved. The material on this page is provided by AFP and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.