Bangkok July 16 2003
"A new Thai satellite company hopes to offer cheap phone calls, internet access and other broadband services to up to one million homes in urban and rural Australia by early next year.
The iPSTAR satellite system would cover 14 countries in the Asia Pacific region when it was launched in the first quarter of 2004 with an initial target of six million customers across the region, a spokesman said.
Australia would be the first country to test the broadband services offered by the satellite, which is overseen by Shin Satellite plc, a key company within the corporate empire of Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The broadband service offers voice and data phone access as well as possible cable television access through a common connection to the communications channel.
One of the main strengths of the new Thai service will be the ability to run applications that require high bandwidth such as video conferencing, telemedicine, and long-distance learning."
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/16/1058035044714.html