HANOI, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam will well operate and tap its first telecommunication satellite, which was successfully launched Saturday morning (Vietnamese time), and launch one or two additional satellites in the near future, a local deputy minister said here.

    From mid-May to the end of this year, some major Vietnamese enterprises, including telecommunications company Viettel, Voice of Vietnam and Vietnam Television will complete the shift from renting foreign satellite services to using services based on the medium-sized satellite coded Vinasat-1, Tran Duc Lai, deputy minister of the Vietnamese Ministry of Communications and Information, said at a press conference.

    The 2.6-ton telecommunication satellite produced by U.S. firm Lockheed Martin was successfully launched by French company ArianeSpace in Kourou site in French Guiana on the northeast coast of South America at 5:16 a.m. (Vietnamese time) on Saturday.

    Vietnam will launch one or two satellites after Vinasat-1 is in use for some time to serve increasingly big communications demand fueled by the country's high and stable economic growth as well as stronger flows of foreign direct investment, he said.

    "If enterprises of various economic sectors are capable in terms of technology, managerial expertise and capital, the state will create favorable conditions for them to participate in the launch of Vinasat-2, Vinasat-3," he said, noting that Vinasat-1's investor is state-owned Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group(VNPT).

    Vinasat-1 will allow enterprises and organizations in sectors, including telecommunications, broadcasting, television, police and army to access telecommunications services at competitive charges, he said, noting that Vietnamese entities currently have to spend around 15 million U.S. dollars renting foreign satellite services each year.

    Besides commercial purposes, Vinasat-1 will be used to offer public utilities, especially basic telecommunications to remote areas.

    With 20 transponders, service coverage in South East Asia, part of China, India, Korea, Japan, Australia and Hawaii, and life-span of between 15 and over 20 years, Vinasat-1 has transmission capacity equivalent to 10,000 voice, Internet and data channels or120 TV channels, helping Vietnam to provide telecommunications, radio, Internet and TV services to all corners of the country regardless of topography and climate.

    Total investment for the production and launch of Vinasat-1 and the construction of related facilities like two ground stations in northern Ha Tay province and southern Binh Duong province stands at nearly 300 million dollars. The VNPT is likely to recoup the investment after nine or 10 years, even earlier.

    Right in 2008, Vinasat-1 will have foreign customers, Lam Quoc Cuong, vice director of Vietnam Telecom International under the VNPT, said, adding that the satellite is expected to run at full capacity in the next four or five years.

    Companies in foreign countries and regions, especially those specializing in exploiting oil and minerals in the sea, and foreign fishermen can use Vinasat-1 services, Cuong said.

    Vietnam has become the sixth Southeast Asian nation putting satellites into orbit, after Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.