A proposal for the formation of a dedicated company for the country's first satellite, Bangabandhu-1, has been sent to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her approval, State Minister for Telecom Tarana Halim said yesterday.

Hopefully the proposal will be passed quickly and the company will be able to start its preparations for commercial activities soon, Tarana said.

The satellite will break even within seven years of its launch, she said.

Tarana spoke to reporters after visiting Telecom Staff College in Gazipur where she saw the development work of the first ground station for the satellite. Bangabandhu-1 will be monitored and controlled from this station.

Work on another ground handling station is going on at Betbunia earth station in Rangamati.

The satellite project is estimated to cost Tk 2,967.95 crore, and French company Thales Alenia Space is working on design, construction and launch of the satellite under a deal worth around Tk 1,959 crore.

“We will recover the project costs by renting transponders of the satellite to different countries as well as making huge savings on television broadcasting through it,” Tarana said.

Citing a study of the telecom watchdog, she said the satellite can save at least $14 million a year, which the local television channels pay to different foreign satellite companies as transmission fees.

The satellite will also help in launching DTH (direct-to-home) services and narrowing the digital divide by taking broadcasting and telecom services to rural areas, Tarana said.

The study of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission also found that about 70 percent of the satellite's revenue would come from the neighbouring countries, while the rest will be earned locally.

The satellite will have the capacity to serve all the South and Southeast Asian countries, including Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.