Bangkok--14 Oct--Thaicom Communications
Thaicom Public Company Limited—one of Asia's leading satellite operators—today announced that it has signed a contract with InfoSat-Laos —a leading Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite TV operator in Laos—for the launch of its new DTH platform on the THAICOM 8 satellite.
Under the agreement, InfoSat-Laos has signed a multi-year transponder agreement for Ku-band capacity on THAICOM 8. The deal emphasizes Thaicom's ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) strategy and commitment to providing the region with premium satellite services. InfoSat-Laos builds the DTH platform to satisfy the increasing demand of Ku-band in Laos. The platform has more than 15 channels available in both standard definition (SD) and high definition (HD) formats.
"THAICOM 8 supports the continued high demand for Ku-band capacity of the broadcasting industry in Asia and Africa as it transitions from standard definition to high definition and ultra-high definition", said Patompob (Nile) Suwansiri, CCO, Thaicom Public Company Limited. "We are delighted to be able to support InfoSat-Laos' business strategy. With its high signal-strength, THAICOM 8 is optimized to provide state-of-the-art TV broadcast services in Laos."
"InfoSat-Laos is looking forward to delivering broadcast services to our viewers on the THAICOM 8 satellite platform. We can now provide Direct-to-Home (DTH) satellite broadcasting services to our viewers nationwide in both standard definition and high definition formats", said Somsouk Souksavath, Manager of InfoSat-Laos.
THAICOM 8 has a total of 24 Ku-band transponders which cover Thailand, South Asia, and Africa. Co-located with THAICOM 5 and THAICOM 6 at 78.5°E longitude, THAICOM 8 entered service in July 2016. The rich video channel neighborhood at the 78.5 E orbital slot is one of the leading in Asia for a variety of programming. Orbital ATK manufactured the satellite and SpaceX was responsible for the launch. THAICOM 8 is designed to operate for more than 15 years.