THAICOM Public Company, operator of the THAICOM / IPSTAR satellite fleet, has announced that an agreement has been signed with a subsidiary of MEASAT Global Berhad ("MEASAT") for the Malaysian payload of the THAICOM 4(IPSTAR) satellite.

According to the agreement, the MEASAT subsidiary will secure a major portion of the IPSTAR capacity over Malaysia allowing the MEASAT subsidiary to become the IPSTAR National Satellite Operator ("NSO") with exclusive rights to provide bandwidth capacity and its related broadband services in Malaysia.

The total bandwidth capacity from the seven (7) spot beams across Peninsula and East Malaysia on the Malaysian payload of the IPSTAR satellite is approximately 1,894MHz, capable of delivering 3.3 Gigabits-per-second (Gbps) of IP connectivity. This amounts to seven (7) percent of total bandwidth capacity of the THAICOM-4 (IPSTAR) satellite. The IPSTAR Malaysian payload will be marketed as MEASAT-5.

In addition, MEASAT Satellite Systems Sdn. Bhd. will secure the existing IPSTAR gateway equipment. The gateway will be moved to the MEASAT Teleport and Broadcast Centre in Cyberjaya.

MEASAT plans to provide the bandwidth capacity on MEASAT-5 to existing and new telecom operators and service providers across the country for mobile backhaul services and to support Government initiatives including the Universal Service Provisioning (USP) to areas with little or no terrestrial connectivity. Both MEASAT and THAICOM have ensured continuity of service for existing IPSTAR customers in Malaysia.

Mr. Arak Chonlatanon, Chief Executive Officer of THAICOM Plc. said, "We are delighted to sign this important partnership agreement with MEASAT for IPSTAR capacity over Malaysia. We've enjoyed a close relationship with MEASAT over the past 10 years having successfully collaborated in a number of projects together. This new partnership agreement, however, is by far the most significant which will see IPSTAR capacity over Malaysia being exclusively marketed and sold by MEASAT. We are confident that this new partnership will further enhance IPSTAR services in the market, which will benefit the service providers and end-users alike."

Datuk Umar bin Haji Abu, Chairman of MEASAT Global Berhad said, "The MEASAT-5 initiative is in line with our mission to being the satellite operator of choice for the Malaysian Information and Communication Technology (ICT) industry. Our partnership with THAICOM on this project will allow MEASAT to expand its support to local telecommunications companies in providing connectivity to all areas of Malaysia in line with the National Broadband Initiative project."

Mr. Patompob (Nile) Suwansiri, Vice President - Marketing and Sales added, "IPSTAR services in Malaysia began nearly 9 years ago with the introduction of our first generation services and full services using the THAICOM-4 (IPSTAR) broadband satellite from 2008 onwards. Working through our eight Malaysian service providers, we have had good successes in rolling out cost-effective broadband satellite services throughout Malaysia. We would like to thank our service providers for their trust in our products and services and we believe that our new partnership with MEASAT will further enhance the level of service and support for the IPSTAR product in Malaysia."

Presently, IPSTAR provides full nationwide broadband satellite services in 13 countries with 17 gateways in: Australia, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, The Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam.