Kacific signs with ABS Subic Bay
August 28, 2019
By Chris Forrester
Singapore-based (but Vanuatu-registered) Kacific Broadband is readying its Kacific1 which will be a high-throughput satellite operating over the Pacific and south-East Asia regions.
Boeing is building the so-called ‘condominium’ craft and it is scheduled for launch later this year on a SpaceX rocket. The satellite is better known as SkyPerfect’s JCSAT-18, which will take the satellite’s Ku beams while Kacific will utilise the Ka-band frequencies. The satellite is likely to launch in November.
August 27th saw it announce that it had contracted with Permira-owned operator ABS to use its ground infrastructure. ABS’ teleport at Subic Bay in the Philippines, will host Kacific1’s gateway traffic.
Kacific will use Ka-band spot beams for extremely cost-efficient broadband delivery. Its 56 powerful high throughput beams will cover select areas over the Pacific Islands and South East Asia, with six beams covering The Philippines archipelago and a further 21 beams covering Indonesia, Timor-Leste and Malaysia.
Kacific has been highly successful in winning valuable Pacific region contracts. Many of the satellite’s 56 spot beams, which span 25 countries from Nepal to the islands of French Polynesia, are already fully subscribed with customers.