Seoul, Korea, August 22, 2000 – Hyundai Electronics Industries, Co. Ltd. announced that it has initiated a local and international leasing service for a satellite communications line using Ka-band technology. This is the first time a leasing service utilizing Ka-band has been offered in Korea. The Korean government’s Information and Communication department recently granted Hyundai permission to enter the basic communications industry. Hyundai has completed all of the requirements for this, a process which has been underway since last March when the company first submitted its application. Hyundai’s new leasing service uses Ka-band, a technology that offers abundant frequency resources. This makes it easy to provide wide-band-multimedia communications service, thus enabling both upward service (from subscriber to provider) and downward service (from provider to subscriber). In contrast, the Ku-band technology used by current satellite service providers enables only single-direction service using a satellite for downward communications and telephone lines for upward communications. As stipulated by the Korean government, Hyundai launched the Ka-band satellite into the Infosat-B orbit (east longitude of 113¡Æ with a height of 36,000 km). Hyundai is now able to provide leased satellite communications service to deliver high-speed Internet and wide-band-multimedia service not only to local service providers but also to those located in the Asia-Pacific region, including China, Japan, and Australia. Hyundai is building momentum for the development of satellite communications technology in both local and overseas markets, which in turn contributes to the growth of related industries. The company’s pioneering work with Ka-band technology is expected to give it leadership in the world market for satellite communications service. Hyundai plans to spin off its satellite service business unit by end of this year, thereby launching a leasing business for the communications line. The new company will seek financial investment and guidance from leading foreign banks, telecommunication service providers, and satellite manufactures, with the target of launching full service in 2003. Hyundai expects annual sales of the anticipated new leasing company will exceed 100 billion won by the year 2005. The number of Internet service providers in Korea that use Ka-band satellite communications service is increasing, and the leasing business for satellite service equipment is also rapidly growing. Satellite-based communications has less data loss during transmission and provides superior quality of service, as compared to wired communications, which is mainly used in the high-speed Internet market for cable modems and Assymmetric Digital Subscriber Lines (ADSL). Service to subscribers can also be established more rapidly with satellite-based communications because it eliminates the delay associated with installation of new equipment. In addition, satellite communications service can be cost effectively delivered to any region of the world, thereby contributing to reduction of the ‘digital divide’ associated with service in remote locations.
– Hyundai Electronics announced that it has initiated a local and international leasing service for a satellite communications line using Ka-band technology. This is the first time a leasing service utilizing Ka-band has been offered in Korea.
