December 05, 2001
Urea offtake agreement signed between India-Oman INDIA TO GET A RELIABLE AND LONG TERM SOURCE OF UREA S. S. DHINDSA keralamonitor.com Muscat --The Urea Off-Take Agreement (UOTA) between the Government of India and the Oman India Fertilizer Company (OMIFCO); Ammonia Off-Take Agreement (AOTA) between the Indian Farmers Fertilizers Cooperative Limited (IFFCO) and OMIFCO; Gas Supply Agreement (GSA) between the Government of the Sultanate of Oman (GOO) and OMIFCO and the related Direct Agreements with the Lenders, were initialled in Oman, today. Secretary, Fertilizers, Shri Ashok Pahwa, initialled the Agreements on behalf of the Government of India.
Speaking on the occasion, Union Minister for Chemicals and Fertilizers, S.S. Dhindsa said that the Urea Off-Take Agreement will provide India with a reliable and long-term source of urea. This project is an indication of the close relationship and friendship that exists between Oman and India, he added.
Under the Off-Take Agreements, the Government of India and IFFCO will commit to buy all OMIFCO’s urea and surplus ammonia production at pre-agreed fixed prices for a fifteen and ten year period respectively. Under the Gas Supply Agreement, the GOO will supply gas to the project for 20 years, at fixed prices for the first 10 years and at a pre-agreed escalation for the remaining 10 years. The initialling of these key agreements is a significant milestone for the project and will facilitate early financial close.
OMIFCO is a US$ 969 million project company whose shareholders are Oman Oil Company (50%), Krishak Bharati Cooperative Limited (KRIBHCO) (25%) and Indian Farmers Fertilizers Cooperative (IFFCO) (25%). The project to produce 1.65 million metric tons of granulated urea and 0.25 million metric tons of surplus ammonia per year will be built by Snamprogetti of Italy and Technip of France under a Lump Sum Turnkey Contract. The funding requirements will be met with US$ 320 million of equity and US$ 649 million of debt. About half the debt component is likely to be covered by Export Credit Agencies.
OMIFCO has selected ANZ Investment Bank, Arab Banking Corporation Group and BNP Paribas as Arranging Banks. The Arrangers are considering approaching the bank market with the required financing soon after their formal approvals and those of the ECAs.
Inmarsat Awards $55 Million Contract for Core Network Infrastructure for Broadband Mobile Satellite Communications
Ericsson to provide UMTS equipment to enable Inmarsat's Broadband Global Area Network set for launch during 2004; B-GAN to deliver data rates of up to 432kbit/s to enterprises that need access to their corporate LANs and WANs from virtually anywhere in the world
Inmarsat Awards $55 Million Contract for Core Network Infrastructure for Broadband Mobile Satellite Communications
keralamonitor.com
Dubai, Inmarsat Limited, a leading provider of global mobile satellite communications solutions, has awarded a contract worth about US$55 million for Ericsson to provide 3rd Generation UMTS core network equipment to enable Inmarsat's Broadband Global Area Network (B-GAN) due for launch during 2004.
B-GAN will allow Inmarsat to deliver Internet and intranet content and solutions, video-on-demand, video conferencing, e-mail, LAN access at speeds up to 432kbit/s as well as voice communications, almost anywhere in the world via notebook or palm top computers. The US$1.7 billion network, planned to be operational during 2004, includes two new Inmarsat satellites, I-4, and will be compatible with third generation (3G) mobile systems. B-GAN will feature a range of new terminals designed to take advantage of the narrow spot beams on the new I-4 satellites. They will range from notebook (A4) sized, pocket (A5) size and even fixed-mounted terminals. These units will effectively represent plug and play satellite modems typically for PC laptops or PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant) with the need of satellite communications.
The Ericsson equipment will provide the call routing and mobility management functionality for Inmarsat's new BGAN ground stations enabling connectivity to the fixed and mobile terrestrial phone and data networks for the voice and data services in conjunction with Inmarsat's service providers. Inmarsat will operate this Core Network equipment from its network control facility in Central London.
"By using 3G or UMTS equipment from Ericsson, our B-GAN service will 'look' like a terrestrial mobile network," said Michael Butler, managing director of Inmarsat Ltd. "Inmarsat's new broadband services will follow an open telecoms standards to enable enhanced synergy with the technology developments already under way for terrestrial mobile systems."
"The benefits to the end user will be the tremendous interoperability between 3G and B-GAN - potentially users will be able to use their standard 3G UMTS SIM cards in a B-GAN terminal and achieve enhanced terrestrial coverage for 3G services. Also B-GAN users will be able to benefit from the applications being developed for 3G networks," Michael Butler explained.
Inmarsat's B-GAN service is expected to be available in 2004 following launch of two new Inmarsat I-4 satellites in late 2003 and 2004. These will be 100 times more powerful than Inmarsat's current world leading satellite network which enables a global mobile 64kbit/s Mobile ISDN and Mobile Packet Data service. In addition B-GAN will provide at least ten times the traffic capacity for new users, enabling Inmarsat to fulfil the growing need of global corporate enterprises for on-line high-speed access to information and communications.
'Inmarsat have selected Ericsson as a partner based on our market leadership, our technology expertise, and our comprehensive knowledge and experience in the satellite market,' said Ian Hoddle, head of Ericsson satellite systems in the UK.. 'We are extremely pleased to build on our existing relationship with such a key and successful player in the market.'
Installation of the Ericsson equipment is due to start in 2003 with testing taking place at the end of that year. B-GAN is expected to be launched in 2004.
Inmarsat is already working with Ericsson on similar GPRS equipment for the precursor to the B-GAN service, a 144 kbit/s regional Mobile Packet Data service due for launch at the end of 2002.
