BEIJING-Singapore Telecom has pulled out of the US$650 million Asia-Pacific Mobile Telecommunications (AMPT) satellite project it set up in December 1995 together with ST Telemedia, a subsidiary of the Singapore Technologies Group, and four Chinese partners: China Satellite Launch and Tracking Control, China Aero-Space Corp., China Unicom Satellite Telecommunication and China Telecommunications Broadcast Satellite Corp.
The project still is scheduled to go ahead, but with ST Telemedia the only Singaporean partner. SingTel decided investment in AMPT no longer fit with its satellite strategy.
AMPT plans to provide mobile phone service to 3.1 billion people in 22 countries in the Asia-Pacific region.
Another hurdle to launching the AMPT project is delivery of the satellites by U.S.-based Hughes Space and Communications. The company still is waiting for approval from the United States Commerce Department amid reports the satellites also could be used for military purposes. The son of Chinese General Shen Rongjun, who is in charge of China’s military satellite program, is a manager at Hughes.
