UK satellite firm Inmarsat seeks UAE licence

British satellite firm Inmarsat is holding talks with the UAE regulatory authorities to obtain licence to launch its services and products in the country, a senior company official said.

Speaking to Emirates 24/7 in Dubai, Helene Bazzi, Senior Area Manager for Middle East, Africa and CIS, said negotiations started last year with Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) for the licence.

“We were in discussion with the TRA to either have the GMCS licence like an operator or to have working with a licensed operator in the country to distribute our services. Negotiations started last year and we are quite hopeful.”

Inmarsat offers mobile satellite services and the talks with TRA are specifically about regularising these services, she said.

“We work with each and every government for authorisation.”

In August, Inmarsat announced $1.2 billion investments in in next generation Ka-band satellite network which will be operational on 2014.

Perry Melton, Chief Operating Officer, Inmarsat, said that the company is liquid and can finance this project its internal cash flow.

“Inmarsat has a very good cash flow. Becaue of the depreciation of the satellite, we have very high Ebitda and therefore we are low debt-to-equity leverage. We have good financial position to fund our next generation of satellites compared to competitors who are struggling for financing. We are constantly looking at how best to manage our financial leverage. If we need (to approach bank for funding), we will,” Melton added.

The satellite telecommunication major earned $570 million in net profits in the first half of this year, an increase of 12 per cent over the same period last year.

Commenting on the second-half results, Melton said: “We expect to have strong second half. We have had sold growth for the year 2010.”