APT Satellite Co and Fort Wayne, Indiana-based Rimsat Ltd are continuing talks in a bid to resolve problems with signal overlap between their two Asian based satellites. Following the launch of Apstar-1, APT’s satellite, which was to operate over Papua New Guinea, both Rimsat and Japan’s Ministry of Posts & Telecommunications complained that its footprint would interfere with their existing satellites. A joint venture of Chia Tai International Communications Co of Hong Kong and China Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Corp, Ever-Victory Systems Co and China Yuan Wang (Group) Corp, all of the People’s Republic of China, APT is currently holding its satellite at an unspecified postion as it must to observe co-ordination rules set out under international conventions. The Japanese filed a formal protest, fearing disruption of the national telephone network. While Rimsat says the talks continue to be cordial, the option of moving Rimsat’s satellite to another location is not being considered. Rimsat’s satellite may only be subject to peripheral interference according to its technical staff, as its market will be India, an area outide of the APT satellite’s footprint. The APT Satellite, however, will be subject to problems due to the signal strength and wide footprint of the Rimsat unit. Rimsat looks set to face further problems as more powerful satellites are planned for later in the year and calculations have not yet been done to compensate for interaction between the APT and Japanese satellites.
