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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 August 2000 Issue No. 495 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 17 - 23 August 2000 Issue No. 495
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters For your viewing pleasure
By Rehab SaadAt 2.00am Friday, Cairo time, a French Ariane 4 rocket is scheduled to be launched from Korou in Latin America carrying the second Egyptian media satellite to its orbit in outer space. The launch of Nilesat 102 will be broadcast live by Egyptian television.
A celebration, attended by Egyptian officials, the press and media will be held on the occasion in Korou. The one-hour event will feature a documentary on Egypt and the government's achievements under President Hosni Mubarak. Matra Marconi, the manufacturer of Nilesat 101 and 102, will show a documentary on the making of the satellite, as well as the history of cooperation between Egypt and the company. This will be followed by a third film by Ariane Space company on the capabilities of the Ariane rocket.
"By launching the second media satellite, Nilesat 102, Egypt will become the first African country to have two media satellites using state-of-the-art technology," said Information Minister Safwat El-Sherif.
He added that the satellites are of fundamental and strategic importance for the Egyptian media because they cover Egyptian territory in its entirety, especially the new communities that are designed to absorb millions of people in Darb Al-Arb'in and Toshka, in south-western Egypt, Halayeb and Shalatin, along the Egyptian-Sudanese border, and in Sinai.
The satellites also cover large parts of the Arab world, the Middle East, north and central Africa and southern Europe, he said. The two have 24 transponders that can carry the broadcasts of as many as 180 TV channels and 800 radio stations.
It will take 21 days before the satellite is affixed to its accurate orbital path. The TV channels will be loaded gradually afterwards.
Nilesat 102 will be placed in the same orbit as that of Nilesat 101, seven degrees south. As a result, viewers will not need a new dish or receiver to pick up its broadcasts.
Also like 101, Nilesat 102 will use the digital compression system, a technology that is more advanced than the analogue system used by many other satellites. The digital system allows for more than one television channel to be compressed in the same transponder.
"After the success of the manufacture and launch of the first satellite on 28 April 1998, and after we succeeded in marketing its channels, we came to the conclusion that there was a pressing need for a second satellite," said Amin Bassiouni, board chairman of the Egyptian Company for Satellites (Nilesat).
In 1998, Nilesat 101 made a $3 million profit, and in 1999 it garnered $5 million. Its programmes are watched by 2 million viewers in Egypt and 3 million in the region.
Bassiouni said out of 12 transponders on Nilesat 101, each carrying between six and seven TV channels, 11 were rented to Egyptian and non-Egyptian stations. "So we needed a second satellite to provide us with extra channels to rent out," Bassiouni said.
Another reason for Nilesat 102 is that it would be manufactured at the same cost price of 1995. "The contract signed with Matra Marconi Space Company in 1995 stated that if we launched a second satellite within three years, the manufacture cost would remain the same," Bassiouni said. "So, we entertained the idea of having a second satellite from the beginning." He said the expenditure would have multiplied had the Nilesat company not taken advantage of the stipulation "because we would have been forced to invite a new international tender at today's prices. The cost would have risen by about $30 million."
Nilesat 101 cost $170 million and Nilesat 102 $140 million. "Expenditures went down because 10 per cent of the parts for Nilesat 102 were manufactured during the construction of Nilesat 101," he said.
Nilesat 102 has one added advantage not available in its predecessor. It is equipped with Internet and information technology facilities.
Nilesat officials believe the use of the satellite will guarantee faster download, connectivity and browsing. Consequently, the Nilesat company built a ground station for Nilesat 102, equipped with facilities to transmit all interactive services, including the Internet, video conferencing, video on demand, TV shopping and e-commerce.
Nilesat 102 is also equipped with an additional antenna that will relay its broadcasts to new areas in Europe. "This will provide a greater opportunity for exchanging information and news with Europe directly," said Bassiouni.
Nilesat has two new ground stations, in England and Lebanon. "Our clients in Europe asked British Telecom to establish a ground station for Nilesat in England at their own expense in order to use it in transmitting programmes directly to the satellite. In Lebanon, we established a ground station because some private Lebanese channels have no ground stations for transmitting their programmes. Now we have a powerful station in that area that will serve Lebanese channels as well as Syria and other neighbouring countries," said Bassiouni.
Nilesat officials say 50 per cent of Nilesat 102's channels have already been marketed worldwide. New Lebanese and European channels, such as the BBC and TV5, will be available. Egyptian TV will also have its own channels on the new satellite.
According to officials, the Korou base was chosen for the launch of the two satellites because it is near the equator which provides 17 per cent of the power needed to launch rockets.
The idea of launching an Egyptian media satellite dates back to the
1970s when government officials acknowledged that their use in serving the media was spreading worldwide. An orbital path was reserved in 1977 for future use. In 1995, President Hosni Mubarak took the first step towards launching a satellite carrying the name of the Nile. After technical studies were made, the Egyptian Radio and Television Union (ERTU) and Matra Marconi signed a deal to build Nilesat 101. The Ariane Company was chosen to launch it, using an Ariane 4 rocket, from Korou.
In July 1996, the Nilesat company was established to follow up on the satellite's construction, build the ground stations, rent out transponders and channels and provide Egyptian engineers with the necessary training.
Related stories:
More space in space 6 - 12 July 2000
Private media push and pull 24 Feb. - 1 March 2000
Too hot to handle 27 May - 2 June 1999
Enter NileSat's catch 16 - 22 July 1998
