Azerbaijan, Baku, 16 August / Trend corr. S.Babayeva / The International Telecommunication Unity (ITU) will assist Azerbaijan to launch the AzerSat satellite, Valeriy Timofeeyev, Director of ITU Radio Communication Bureau, said during the meeting with Ali Abbas, Azerbaijani Communication and IT Minister. Azerbaijani Minister pays a visit to Geneva.
Timofeeyev said that Azerbaijan would receive the necessary assistance to launch satellite under the order of Hamadun Tur, Head of ITU.
The project will lessen country's dependence from other satellites, open wide possibilities for TV and Radio broadcasting, as well as to provide high-speed Internet service, including mountain territories in Azerbaijan. Azerbaijan will become satellite service exporter.
The cost of the project AzerSat is $80-100mln. Satellite will be launched from Baykonur in Kazakhstan. Satellite will cover Europe and Asia - Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan and Iran. The Communication Ministry considers satellite to be launched in 2010. Satellite's exploitation term is 20 years.
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