THAICOM’s Clarification on NBT Signal Interference

April 26, 2010

THAICOM Public Company Limited clarified today regarding the interference incidence that disrupted the signal of NBT network yesterday at 09:04Hrs. The Company said that when the interference occurred, it immediately coordinated and advised NBT personnel to increase its uplink power signal to help overcome the interference. This is the first step under the standard industry practice to help customers when there is presence of interference. When NBT increased uplink power to the satellite from its ground station, this increased the power of the satellite thus reducing the effect of the interference. The first interference occurred for approximately eight (8) minutes. However, there was a second interference that THAICOM monitored at 09.15Hrs, but NBT was able to broadcast this time due to the preventive actions of increasing the uplink power by NBT and THAICOM.

The cause of this interference is under investigation. Interference can be caused by technical problems of other customers’ ground equipment or the intentional interference by sending signals to jam the satellite, which can come from anywhere within the service footprint. The THAICOM’s Interference Monitoring System is capable of monitoring if there is a presence of interference and the characteristics of interference signal. It can not track the exact location of the source of interference. 

However, THAICOM is working closely with NBT to find the solutions and help minimize signal problems in case of future interferences.