Azerbaijan, Baku / Trend corr. S.Babayeva / Azerbaijan was promised space area for its national satellite AzerSat during the latest World conference on radio communication of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU), the Azerbaijani Communication and IT Ministry reported.
The organization placed Azerbaijan fifth in line among 100 countries after consideration of an appeal by Azerbaijan.
The Ministry stated that the ITU may allocate planned space area to Azerbaijan in the first quarter of 2008. Non-planned area may take more time. The difference between planned and non-planned areas is that the planned area limits broadcasting within the boundaries of the country, but the non-planned area enables more broad broadcasting and may cover other foreign countries.
"We are interested in Europe, and planning to broadcast in the continent," the Ministry stated.
Initially, there are plans to finance the project through state funds. Some 25% to 30% resources of the satellite will be used by Azerbaijan; the other part will be sold to countries which the satellite covers. The cost of the AzerSat project will amount to $80 to $100mln. The satellite covers Europe and part of Asia, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran.