Indonesian government has chosen PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara (PSN) consortium as the winner of the Government Multifunctional Satellite auction with worth of US$1.5 billion. The Public-Private Partnership projects targeted to launch in 2022.

In an official statement released last week, chairperson of the auction committee at the Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) ministry Sri Sanggrama Aradea, stated that the PSN consortium would carry out the project for 15 years from the date of commercial operation, not including Frequency Use Right and Value-Added Tax.

This Satria Multifunction Satellite will be a mainstay for areas that are difficult to reach by fiber optic cable to connect to the fast internet. The consideration of using this multifunctional satellite is for cost efficiency and broad coverage.

According to the Telecommunications and Information Accessibility Agency, the government currently has conventional satellites and must spend up to Rp18 million (US$1,285.71) for every megabit per second (Mbps). Meanwhile, with multifunctional satellites the number could drop to Rp6 million per Mbps.

Aradea explained that the PSN consortium in the project known as the High Throughput Satellite (HTS) satellite or SATRIA satellite consisted of PT Pintar Nusantara Sejahtera, PT Pasifik Satelit Nusantara, PT Dian Semesta Sentosa, and PT Nusatara Satelit Sejahtera.