Satellite television provider PT MNC Skyvision, with its brand Indovision, plans to launch its new satellite in March next year -- called Protostar-II -- to expand services to existing subscribers and attract new ones.

"We hope to raise the number of subscribers to 1.2 million because of the launch," CEO Rudy Tanoesoedibjo said in a press conference in the Information and Communication Ministry Office on Wednesday.

Currently, Indovision, which operates a satellite called Indostar-I, has around 500,000 subscribers, comprising both individuals and corporations.

Protostar-II will have a capacity to transmit about 160 channels, more than three times the capacity of Indostar-I which carries 50 channels.

"We have invested US$300 million in this new satellite," Rudy said, adding that 40 percent of the required funding was derived from loans. He said up to 100 foreign television stations had already made proposals to rent channels offered by the satellite.

Protostar-II is currently being made by Boeing Satellite Systems and is a joint project between Indovision and Protostar, an Asian satellite services operator. It will be launched from Baikonour, Kazakhstan, on March 17.

Indovision has said it expects to earn Rp 1 trillion in sales this year.

Gatot S. Dewa Broto, spokesperson of the Ministry of Communication and Information, said "We hope that the launching of this satellite will further encourage domestic satellite service users to choose domestic transponders."

Transponders or transmitter-responders are satellite channel receivers, which receive, amplify and retransmit signals on different frequencies. (dna)

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