The satellite market can hardly have an obvious improvement in 2003 before the economy grows again in Asia, said the chief executive officer of the Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings, Peter Jackson, on Thursday.

The report of the 2003 interim results of the Asia Satellite Telecommunications Holdings Limited, Asia's premier satellite operator, shows that the turnover for the first half of 2003 stood at 456 million Hong Kong dollars (58.46 million US dollars), a decline of 5 percent compared with 479 million Hong Kong dollars in the same period of last year.

Jackson said that the market has been as difficult as anticipated and the softness in the worldwide transponder markets continued in the first half of 2003. This was reflected in pricing pressure, lower demand for transponder capacity and the decline in revenue.

However, when looking a little further ahead, Jackson believed that the rationale for using satellites remains robust, and that the growth of television, radio and Internet content distribution,corporate networks and remote communication will flourish as markets recover.

What's more, satellites are able to provide much better service than cable systems in terms of application, and this is particularly relevant to the fragmented and disparate Asia-Pacific region, said Jackson.

According to him, the company's in-orbit satellites, AsiaSat 2 and AsiaSat 3S, and their systems, continued to perform well and experienced no disruptions. AsiaSat 3S continues to serve as the satellite platform for one of the largest television viewerships in the world.

Furthermore, AsiaSat 4 was successfully launched in the United States in April this year, and it commenced commercial service in July.
 
(Xinhua News Agency August 22, 2003)