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Published on November 24, 2007

Under the agreement, FirstAsia Group will place an initial order for 5,000 user terminals with a bandwidth commitment of 200 megabits per second. The construction of the Indonesian IPSTAR gateway will commence next month and will be completed by the first quarter of next year. With the completion of the Indonesian gateway, IPSTAR will have accomplished its milestone of serving all Southeast Asian markets.

FirstAsia Group will be responsible for the IPSTAR gateway infrastructure and operation in Indonesia. FirstAsia will also be a service provider for broadband Internet access and other valued-added services such as Voice over Internet Protocol, video conferencing and IPTV. At present, FirstAsia provides wireless broadband infrastructure and IPSTAR will help FirstAsia to expand its broadband network to every part of Indonesia.

Iwan Iman, president director of FirstAsia, said in a statement: "IPSTAR offers the best answer for the growing broadband market in Indonesia. Our country consists of over 17,000 islands making IPSTAR a cost-effective way to provide connectivity throughout the country."

Pradeep Unni, vice president of international sales of Shin Satellite, Asia's leading commercial satellite operator, said: "We are delighted to sign with FirstAsia for IPSTAR gateway services and as a service provider for IPSTAR services in Indonesia. The gateway will be in FirstAsia's site in Jakarta. With the signing of the Indonesian deal we have accomplished a significant milestone of completing all gateways in Southeast Asia."

IPSTAR already provides full nationwide broadband satellite services in Australia, Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, Burma, New Zealand and Vietnam using 11 gateways. The Philippines and Malaysia gateways are under construction and will be completed by the end of the year. IPSTAR will continue to expand its coverage to the rest of Asia-Pacific in 2008.

The Nation