Thailand – THAICOM Public Company Limited has recorded revenues of 1.95 billion Baht for the first quarter of the year, up by or 23% from the same period last year.

Revenues from the company’s conventional satellite operations, which accounts for nearly 80 percent of total sales, increased by 18 percent year-on-year. In particular, THAICOM’s IPSTAR revenues went up by 47% over the same period, driven by increased bandwidth utilization from long-term contracts signed in Australia, Malaysia, Japan and Myanmar last year, and new telco deals signed in Japan and Thailand in the first quarter of this year.

Suphajee Suthumpun, THAICOM’s Executive Chairman and CEO, commented: “It is a positive start to THAICOM’s 21st year of operations, and the beginning of a decade in which we will see a lot of growth for the company.”

At present, THAICOM operates two satellites at geostationary orbit – THAICOM 5, which carries more than 400 television channels at its location of 78.5°East, and THAICOM 4 (IPSTAR), which delivers broadband services to millions of users across 14 countries across Asia-Pacific. THAICOM will launch its sixth satellite – THAICOM 6 – next year, to be followed shortly by its THAICOM 7 satellite, which will be stationed at 120°East, in 2014.