After more than two years of preparation, Myanmar successfully launched its first satellite to orbit on August 6. The latter is under a joint ownership system. The country drew on Arianespace, the French launch service provider, to send Intelsat 39/Myanmar Sat 2 into orbit from the Guiana Space Centre. The telecommunication satellite was designed with high-powered steerable beams, which meets the needs of broadband networking.

The Ministry of Transport and Communications (MOTC) aims at granting 95 percent of Myanmar’s population with broadband connectivity by 2022. It will receive C-band and Ku-band services from the satellite as soon as the first quarter of 2019 in order to help the ministry achieve its ambition. The satellite is poised to be incorporated into Myanmar’s expanding telecommunication network. Analysts expect it to be a cornerstone of the expansion of critical e-banking services and information channels even in the most remote locations. Overall the new satellite will significantly beef up MOTC’s network bandwidth and expand 3G and 4G services.

For the satellite, MOTC will invest about USD 155.7 million (MMK 235 billion) throughout the whole leasing period. U Myint Swe, Myanmar’s Vice President, has stressed the significant improvements in public services and economic spill-over effect. The demand for bandwidth is steadily increasing within many sectors, which will ultimately steer the government towards full ownership of satellites in the future.