[SatNews] The Thaicom 5 broadcasting satellite suffered a technical glitch yesterday for about three hours before resuming normal service late in the evening.

The resulting television-screen blackout initially prompted widespread speculation about political irregularities, including rumours of a coup or the seizure of the Thaicom ground facilities, which happened once during the red-shirt rally last April. Thaicom chief executive officer Arak Cholatanont said at an urgent press conference that the satellite experienced an "electrostatic discharge" problem. The glitch occurred at 4.10 p.m. yesterday, knocking satellite TV channels off the air, including six free TV stations aired on C-band frequencies. Thaicom took about three hours to solve the problem.

"I hope this problem does not happen again," Arak said, adding that such glitches did not frequently occur in any satellites. He added that the problem had nothing to do with politics. The company confirmed that Thaicom 5 was still positioned in the 78.5 degrees Wast longitude orbital slot and had not fallen out of the slot as rumored. Thaicom operates two satellites: Thaicom 5 and broadband satellite iPSTAR.

Thaicom 5 was launched in 2006 and has serviced users in Asia, Europe, Australia and Africa. Its lifespan is at least 12 years. In October 2006, the Thaicom 3 broadcasting satellite suffered a similar technical glitch with the power-supply system. It was later de-orbited. The Information and Communications Technology Ministry held a separate news conference at the ministry in Laksi to talk about the Thaicom 5 situation. Permanent secretary Jirawan Boonperm said the problem would not have happened if Thaicom 5 had a back-up satellite. She added that Thaicom and the ministry would soon launch talks to draw up specifications for a new satellite jointly, expected to be launched in 2013. Mbr />
Thaicom is keen to launch the new broadcasting satellite but reportedly wants its concession owner - the ICT Ministry - to extend its concession term to match that of the planned satellite. This will make it commercially viable to launch the new satellite. Its concession will end in 2018. The ICT Ministry has assigned CAT Telecom to conduct a feasibility study on launching a satellite for the 120 degrees east longitude slot. It also plans to send up another satellite to occupy the vacant 50.5 degrees east slot. The moves are in line with the ministry's plan to maintain the country's right to reserve the two slots with the International Telecommunication Union.