REPORT OF THE REGIONAL WORKING GROUP ON
SATELLITE COMMUNICATION APPLICATIONS
ON ITS EIGHTH MEETING
Beijing, China, 27-29 October 2003
I. SUMMARY
A. Conclusions
1. The eighth meeting of the Regional Working
Group on Satellite Communication Applications (RWG/SatCom)
noted that this was a challenging year for satellite communications
operations, with revenues decreasing and project/meeting
delays caused by the SARS crisis and other factors. However,
the meeting noted with satisfaction that recent years
had witnessed considerable progress in improving connectivity,
and the delivery of services, in the region, with considerable
beneficial support from satellite communications. In addition,
the potential for near-future decreases in cost of satcom
bandwidth and terminals, the near-future implementation
of IP-based broadband satcom, and interest in group negotiations
for satcom capabilities and services, offered hope of
further progress in bridging the digital divide, poverty
alleviation, and improved quality of life.
2. The meeting expressed its satisfaction
that ESCAP had continued to support the activities of
the RWG/SatCom by promoting regional cooperation and information
sharing. These efforts included the 19 March 2003 Meeting
on Cooperation on Satellite Broadband Services and Applications
for the Asia-Pacific Region, jointly organized in Bangkok
by ESCAP and the Asia-Pacific Satellite Communications
Council (APSCC), and the ESCAP-organized Expert Group
Meeting on Space Technology Applications for Poverty Alleviation,
held in Bangkok on 22-24 August 2003. The meeting also
noted the continued efforts of the ESCAP secretariat to
implement the recommendations of the Second Ministerial
Conference on Space Applications for Sustainable Development
in Asia and the Pacific.
3. The meeting noted that satellite broadband
would be a major contributor to bridging the digital divide.
It is becoming available and affordable; there is a need
to prepare the region for such capabilities at technical,
institutional and policy levels. The meeting agreed that
group negotiation among relevant stakeholders would be
a valuable approach to create win-win situations among
countries, satcom suppliers and service providers.
4. The meeting noted the recent offers by
some communications satellite operators of possible free
or reduced-rate bandwidth to support pilot projects with
humanitarian benefits, and of the Japan Aerospace Exploration
Agency (JAXA) for support to cooperators in its upcoming
WINDS mission. Participants agreed to explore possible
engagement with these offers, and to collect information,
which might support additional negotiations of improved
pilot project or operational services in the region.
5. The meeting noted with great appreciation
the offer made by the representative of China to continue
to host the Coordination Office. The participants accepted
this offer. Three possible venues for the ninth RWG/SatCom
meeting, India, Japan and Bangkok, were discussed and
left for further exploration.
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B. Recommendations
6. The meeting recommended that the Coordination
Office seek mechanisms that promote continuity of the
Group's web content even during changes in the location
and personnel of the Coordination Office.
7. A recommendation was made to consider
modifying the working paper on policy framework relevant
to satellite broadband applications for submission to
key officials in national governments for their reference.
It was also noted that the potential benefit of satcom
extended beyond the domains of existing national contact
points, and that broader engagement might be desirable.
By working with national contact points, additional contacts
would be encouraged in developing pilot projects.
8. The meeting recommended that a survey
could be conducted by the Coordination Office in cooperation
with the ESCAP secretariat and APSCC to compile information
of satcom suppliers on (a) available satellite resources
for broadband services, (b) available ground segment resources
for broadband services, (c) current and planned broadband
services and projects, and (d) interest in taking part
in group negotiation on broadband services for bridging
the digital divide. These could be matched with information
from the countries on their priorities to follow up WSIS.
9. The RWG recommended that explorations
of possible use of Japan's offer of resources for pilot
projects using WINDS be considered, possibly seeking coalitions
of existing projects in potentially related fields. Several
ideas were floated for follow-up exploration.
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II. PROCEEDINGS
A. Organization of the meeting
10. The eighth meeting of the Regional Working
Group on Satellite Communication Applications was held
at the Beijing Normal University, China, on 27-29 October
2003. The meeting was organized by ESCAP, and hosted by
the National Remote Sensing Centre of China, of the Ministry
of Science and Technology of China.
B. Attendance
11. 12 participants and observers attended
the meeting from the following member countries and from
ESCAP: China, Japan and Thailand. A list of participants
is attached as an annex.
C. Opening
12. The meeting was opened on 27 October
2003. The Executive Secretary of ESCAP, in his message
delivered by the Chief, Space Technology Applications
Section, pointed out that space technology applications
and its products and services are well recognized for
their contributions to combating poverty, and for bringing
connectivity and benefits (such as distance learning and
medicine) to the region. While many areas will be connected
by terrestrial Internet and mobile telephony, other areas
will be connected by satellite technology.
13. Despite these advances, and the bright
future for satellite communications, we remain in a world
where some areas are inadequately connected, or are completely
unconnected. The Executive Secretary noted the commitment
of ESCAP to closing this digital divide, and stated his
belief that satellite communications should and will play
a vital role in this arena.
14. Ms Zheng Lizhong and Mr Li Jiahong welcomed
participants on behalf of the National Remote Sensing
Centre of China, of the MOST of China, as the Coordination
Office for the RWG and host of the meeting. They wished
the meeting success. They also wished their visitors an
enjoyable and fruitful time at the meeting.
D. Election of officers
15. The meeting elected the following persons
as members of its Bureau:
F. Report of the coordination office
on the work of the Regional Working Group over the preceding year
17. The Coordinator (Mr Yang Qianli) summarized
the work of the Coordination Office of the Regional Working
Group over the previous year, in the light of the recommendations
of the seventh meeting of the RWG and the Second Ministerial
Conference on Space Applications for Sustainable Development
in Asia and the Pacific. The Office worked hard to promote
the applications and exchanges on satellite communications
on distance learning and training, such as developing
a project for China Population and Family Planning Satellite
Distance Medical Training Network. It contacted other
countries, and coordinated with China Satellite 2003 for
a common session with the eighth RWG meeting. The Office
suggests that seminars on satcom technologies and applications
are very important, as are implementing information exchange
approaches, cooperation with other space technology application
programmes like satellite navigation and Earth observation,
and actively working in the framework of RESAP.
18. The Coordination Office noted that satcom
could not stand alone. It must integrate well with terrestrial
telecom systems, such as fibre optics, terrestrial wireless,
and so forth. Policy and regulations should address universal
service funds, encouragement of broadband satcom demonstrations
and operations, sustainable rates for the space segment.
Working with the Global VSAT Forum may be valuable.
G. Progress in the implementation
of the Strategy and Action Plan
1. Regional Report of the ESCAP
secretariat
19. The ESCAP secretariat presented a report
highlighting the main activities and achievements attained
at the regional level in the past year. The ESCAP secretariat
organized and serviced the meetings of four Regional Working
Groups and the Intergovernmental Consultative Committee
under the regional cooperation network on space technology
applications; developed and initiated the implementation
of three projects with financial and in-kind support from
China, France and India; continued regional information
services through its publications and web site; commissioned
a consultant study on space technology applications for
poverty alleviation, held two meetings on subjects related
to satellite communications and other space technology
applications, as noted above, plus the regional symposium
on space technology applied to disaster management; organized
the fourth meeting of the Dialogue Forum on Harmonization
of Regional Initiative; and provided 53 fellowships to
support the training and education activities hosted by
China, India and Indonesia on a technical cooperation
among developing countries (TCDC) basis.
20. It was noted that the Asian-Pacific
Remote Sensing and GIS Journal would become the Asian-Pacific
Journal on Information, Communication and Space Technology
from 2004 onwards. RWG members are encouraged to contribute
to this journal, which will emphasize policy issues and
information accessibility.
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2. Country reports by the national
contact points
21. The meeting noted that considerable
progress had been attained at the national level, as summarized
below by the national contact points or representatives
of participating countries.
China
22. The new DFH-4 communication satellite
platform will be launched around 2005 with more than 50
transponders. A small satellite CX-1, less than 100 kg,
was launched on 21 October. China has built dozens of
large and medium-size satellite ground stations, and more
than 27,000 international telephone lines by satellite
linking more than 180 countries and regions in the world.
Domestic capabilities include more than 70,000 satellite
telephone lines, and have largely solved the telephone
communication problem in remote regions. VSAT communications
have also grown markedly in recent years, with more than
37,800 terminals.
23. Since 1985, when China first used satellite
radio and television transmission, the country has built
a satellite transmission coverage network made up of 33
communication satellite transponders. The network contains
47 central and provincial television programmes, nearly
40 provincial radio programmes, and 32 central radio programmes
for both domestic and international audiences. There are
more than 189,000 satellite earth reception stations.
24. Distance education services have been
in use since 1985, and 50 million people have benefited
from such services. Tele-health education networking is
a two-way distance learning system built by the Ministry
of Health, in order to solve urgent needs for continuing
education for nearly 6 million health technicians in the
country. Nearly 10,000 education pilot stations will be
established to directly receive educational programming
via satellite. In 2002, a pilot with more than 500 remote
stations was established in four provinces, with additional
build-out planned throughout the country. It is anticipated
that, within 5-10 years, about 90 per cent of middle and
high schools in China should be connected to the Internet,
with satcom playing an important role in remote areas.
Japan
25. In 2001, Japan enacted the e-Japan Strategy
to make Japan one of the most advanced IT nations within
five years. Under this strategy, WINDS is being projected
to help establish the world's most advanced information
and telecommunication network in the Asia-Pacific region.
Currently about 5 million households (about 10 per cent
of the total) in Japan do not have broadband access. Projections
are to reduce this to 2 million in a few years.
26. Implementation of the Wideband InterNetworking
engineering test and Demonstration Satellite (WINDS) is
on track for a fiscal year 2005 launch. It will have bent
pipe and onboard ATM switching, Ka-band high-speed transmission,
with multi-beam antennas and active phased array antennas
with high-speed scanning capability. WINDS invites participation
from Asian countries in WINDS experiments. Appropriate
experiments should be useful for future improvement of
communications networks in Asian countries, be non-commercial
experiments, non-disturbing to WINDS system operation,
and compliant with domestic and international laws.
27. Statements of interest are solicited.
The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency can provide ground
terminals (including delivery and installation) and technical
support for experiment participants, upon available budget;
partners should provide connectivity beyond the Earth
station, internal networking and computer hardware, and
personnel to support their projects. Receipt of initial
contacts has begun, with contacts appreciated as soon
as possible, in order to enable designers to plan footprint
locations. Initial statements of interest have been received
in such areas as satcom performance, distance learning,
tele-medicine, disaster management, and antenna performance
during rainfall.
Thailand
28. Thaicom/iPSTAR broadband has two goals:
(a) reducing bandwidth cost to the end-user, making increased
use more affordable, with the target US$1K/Mbps/month,
and $1K per terminal, and (b) increasing the bandwidth
capacity of 45Gbps, serving 10+ million users. iPSTAR
focuses its coverage not on oceans or mountainous areas,
but on areas with greater population and economic activity.
Thus, with this approach, satcom aims to compete economically
with terrestrial broadband where the latter is most competitive,
unlike previous satcom models. Current plans are for launch
in April 2004.
29. Currently, two-way ground terminals
have been provided to about 200 universities in Thailand,
with plans for 2000 schools. A tele-medicine pilot is
also underway in Thailand.
H. Perspectives on satellite broadband
applications and development of substantive regional cooperation activities
30. On March 19, ESCAP and the Asia-Pacific
Satellite Communications Council jointly organized the
Meeting on Cooperation on Satellite Broadband Services
and Applications for the Asia-Pacific Region. Interest
in developing regional projects was expressed by communications
satellite operators, who offered discounts or contributions
of bandwidth to support pilot projects aimed at humanitarian
benefits and at education. They also agreed to further
consider the possibility to initiate a group negotiation
among satellite operators/service providers, user agencies
and funding agencies for support priority applications
in developing countries to bridge the digital divide.
31. At the Expert Group Meeting on Space
Technology Applications for Poverty Alleviation, held
in Bangkok on 22-24 August 2003, participants discussed
the possible contribution of satellite communications
in such areas as connecting underserved communities with
focused services in tele-education, tele-medicine and
other information services.
32. The meeting agreed that satellite communications,
used synergistically with terrestrial networks, can cost-effectively
connect underserved communities. New approaches to satellite
broadband are about to reach the marketplace; several
prototypes have been tried in the region. But operational
systems are needed to benefit the poor.
33. Just constructing ICT infrastructure
may be insufficient. "Accessibility", "affordability",
"usefulness" and "poor-people-centric" approaches are
essential for sustainable pro-poor ICT benefits. Prototypes
should (a) assess operational viability, (b) refine aspects
of different models of operationalization, such as business
and revenue sharing (between government and community)
models, (c) develop partnerships and establish forums
among relevant players - satellite operators, service
providers, government, NGOs, international organizations
- including funding agencies and multi-national companies,
and d) develop sustainable service mechanisms viable to
both least developed countries and commercial service
providers.
34. Policy is important to create a win-win
situation by harmonizing financial and customer-driven
interests of private investors with societal obligations
of governments - such as poverty alleviation and disaster
management. United Nations agencies, such as ESCAP, can
help by advocating needs of developing countries to provide
a platform for private agencies to invest in these countries,
catalyse the group negotiation between LDCs and private
satcom operators, and jointly develop affordable and sustainable
service modals for least developed countries.
I. Tentative work plan for 2003-2004
35. The tentative work plan for 2003, which had been approved by the ICC at its eighth session in Beijing in June 2002, and the proposed work plan for 2004 were presented to the RWG/SatCom. The meeting suggested including a seminar on some relevant subject in conjunction with the next meeting of the RWG, if possible.
J. Decision on the candidature for
the Coordinator and the Coordination Office
36. The meeting expressed its appreciation of the offer of China to continue hosting the RWG for the next two-year term. This offer was accepted by acclamation by the RWG.
K. Venue and provisional agenda
of the ninth meeting of the Regional Working Group
37. Members of the RWG suggested that the
WINDS project, and the creation of JAXA, make Japan an
attractive location for the next RWG/SatCom meeting. The
representative of Japan promised to convey the message
to the appropriate persons for their consideration. Suggestions
for India and Bangkok as alternatives were noted.
38. The provisional agenda of the ninth
meeting should focus on implementation of substantive
project activities, and be developed through consultation
among the ESCAP secretariat, the Coordination Office of
the RWG, and the host organization.
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L. Other matters
39. The meeting appreciated the suggestion
of China to combine satcom components into a symposium
on disaster management, to be held in China in 2004.
40. The meeting expressed its appreciation
for the work of the Coordination Office in coordinating
the hosting of the eighth RWG meeting with the China Satellite
2003 Conference.
M. Adoption of the report
41. The report was adopted on 29 October
2003.
LIST OF PARTICIPANTS
China
Yang Qianli Professor China Electronic System
Engineering Company 20 Fuxing Road, P.O. Box 101, Beijing
100840, China +86-10-6821-9614 (O) +86-10-6827-8365 (O/F)
yql@public.gb.com.cn
Zheng Lizhong Professor, Consultant National
Remote Sensing Centre Of China, Ministry of Science and
Technology No. 9 Building, 1 Sanlihe Road, Beijing 100044,
China +86-10-6836-4405 / 6220-0841 (O) +86-10-6836-4405
/ 6220-2238 (F) zlz@htrdc.com
Wang Yanguang Director, CEO China Spacesat
Co., Ltd. Floor 15, CASC Tower, 16 Fuchenglu, Haidian
District, Beijing 100037, China +86-10-6876-8889 / 6837-1188
to 889 (O) +86-10-6876-8895 (F) +86-1391-002-9776 (mobile)
wyg@cast.cn
Wang Zhiyong Vice- President Twenty First
Century Aerospace Technology Co., Ltd. P.O. Box 8212,
South-east of Jiancaicheng Huandao, Xisanqi, Haidian District,
Beijing +86-10-6292-9966 (O) +86-10-8295-0014 (F) wzy@21stc.com.cn
Zhang Xiaodong Director, Senior Engineer
Market Strategies and International Cooperation Div.,
Dept. of Planning and Finance, Chinese Academy of Space
Technology P.O. Box 2417-50, 31 Baishiqiao Road, Haidian
District, Beijing 10081, China +86-10-6837-9439 / 6874-6439
(O) +86-10-6837-8237 (F) +86-1380-100-3779 (mobile) zhangxd@cast.cn
Li Jiahong Division Chief National Remote
Sensing Centre of China, Ministry of Science and Technology
Jingshi Building 9804, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing
100875, China +86-10-6220-2239 (O) +86-10-6220-2238 (F)
jhli@nrscc.gov.cn
Zhang Songmei Doctor National Remote Sensing
Centre of China, Ministry of Science and Technology Jingshi
Building 9804, 19 Xinjiekouwai Street, Beijing 100875,
China +86-10-6220-0046 to 1010 +86-10-6220-2238 (F) zhsongmei@nrscc.gov.cn
Japan
Kazunori Inagaki Deputy Director Satellite
Applications Centre, Office of Space Applications, Japan
Aerospace Exploration Agency World Trade Centre Building,
2-4-1 Hamamatsu-cho, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8060, Japan
+81-3-3438-6250 (O) +81-3-5402-6517 (F) Inagaki.kazunori@jaxa.jp
Thailand
Li Jijun (Jonathan) Regional Manager, Asia-Pacific
Shin Satellite Public Co., Ltd. (formerly Shinawatra Satellite,
Plc.) 41/103 Ratthanathibet Road, Nonthaburi 11000, Thailand
+66-2-591-0736 to 49 ext. 322 (O) +66-2-591-0719 (F) +66-1-808-8372
(mobile in Thailand) +86-1391-178-9698 (mobile in China)
lij@thaicom.net
Observer
Liu Hao Managing Publisher Satellite &
Network +86-10-6870-1266/1277 (O) +86-1391-097-4588 (mobile
in China) Sat9999@vip.sina.com
United Nations
Wu Guoxiang Chief Space Technology Applications
Section, Information, Communication and Space Technology
Division, Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific (ESCAP) United Nations Building, Rajadamnern
Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand +66-2-288-1456 (O)
+66-2-288-3012 (F) wugu@un.org
David A. Hastings Information, Communication
and Space Technology Division, Economic and Social Commission
for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) United Nations Building,
Rajadamnern Nok Avenue, Bangkok 10200, Thailand +66-2-288-1457
(O) +66-2-288-3012 (F)
hastingsd@un.org
