DoS may have to lease transponders

NEW DELHI, Oct 6: The Department of Space (DoS) may have to lease transponders from foreign satellites to meet the needs of private satelli...

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NEW DELHI, Oct 6: The Department of Space (DoS) may have to lease transponders from foreign satellites to meet the needs of private satellite television networks and for telecommunications. This matter was discussed at a high-level meeting between the DoS chief Kasturirangan, top Department of Telecommunications (DoT) officials from the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry and Finance Ministry here today.

The financial implications of such a move will unfold over the next few weeks. There is also a proposal to compress and free the unused frequencies used by the I&B Ministry for Doordarshan, to accommodate the needs of the DoT. There will now be 63 transponders from four satellites Insat 2a, 2c, 2b AND 1D, after the failure of Insat 2D which had seven transponders 4 being used by DoT and the remaining three by National Stock Exchange and private operators.

The DoT has chalked out a detailed contingency plan to put the limping telecommunication services, affected by the failure of the Insat 2d, back on rails. According to sources in the DoT, there was a partial shifting of the National Stock Exchange’s facilities to Insat 2D. The remaining facilities continued to function from Insat 2A.

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However the inclined orbit of Insat 2A had earlier caused disruptions in the NSE functioning. The DoT was hence constrained to put all these services back on 2A. The DoT has asked the DoS to provide at least six transponders in the C-Band immediately. The 12 transponders being used by the DoT – 7 in C Band, 2 in the extended C – Band and three others, have been incapacitated. The DoT has already deputed technical teams to far-flung areas to change the direction of receivers which get the beams from the satellites.

“These adjustments are being carried out on a war-footing and most of the services have been restored to normal,” said a senior DoT official.