"The deal has been clinched and we are waiting for another license from China's Ministry of Information Industry, also our project partner, to launch the services to the Chinese clients," ShinSat's investor relations director Richard Jones told AFP.

ShinSat, which is owned by Thai telecom giant Shin Corp, offers telephone, Internet, television and other communication services.

The company has already built a satellite gateway in Beijing that will begin providing Internet services to clients in May. Two more gateways are planned in Shanghai and Guangzhou.

The expenses fall under the company's overall budget to develop iPSTAR, which is 405 million dollars, Jones said.

"The Chinese government has targeted a maximum of one million satellite users in the next few years, which is also our target to achieve within the 16-year-contract of our license," said Jones.

The service costs about 1,000 dollars a year in China, and would bring in revenues of one billion dollars a year if the company meets its target.

The new service will target clients in remote areas of China which are not covered by other high-speed Internet services, Jones added.

ShinSat already offers broadband satellite services in Southeast Asia, as well as Australia and New Zealand. Services in Vietnam are set to be launched late this week.

In addition to iPSTAR, ShinSat operates three conventional satellites that offer telephone services and expects next month to launch another one, dubbed Thaicom 5, Jones said.

Shin Corp, founded by Thailand's outgoing prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was taken over by Singapore's state-owned fund Temasek for 3.8 billion dollars. It holds 96.12 percent of the company.

Included in the buyout was a 1.9 billion dollar payment for a stake of almost 50 percent in Shin Corp which was held by Thaskin's family.

The deal, including ShinSat, has raised concerns that the Shin Corp could allow the city-state to eavesdrop on Thailand with the company's satellites.

The sale sparked street protests against Thaksin, which helped drive him from office earlier this month.

All rights reserved. copyright 2018 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.