Singapore Telecommunications Ltd and the Directorate General of Telecommunications of Taiwan has awarded a contract to Matra Marconi Space SA to supply a commercial communications satellite system. Total cost of the system is about $240m, to be shared equally by Telecom and the Directorate Generale. Matra Marconi Space is a joint venture between Lagardere Groupe and GEC Plc. The satellite, which will support telecommunications and broadcasting services, will be launched in the first quarter of 1998 and be ready for service about a month later; it will have 14 C-band and 16 Ku-band transponders to cover the Asian land mass and south and east Asian areas respectively.
