ISRO satellite to make mobile telephone cheaper

Indian Space Research Oraganisation plans to launch a satellite that will provide a direct link to mobile phone handsets. That will cut costs and make mobile phones available to those living in remote areas.

A new satellite, which the space agency plans to launch, will be able to provide a direct satellite communication link to mobile phone handsets -- a technology that will work on the lines of the direct-to-home technology.

"We plan to provide satellite connectivity using a special bandwidth," ISRO Chairman G Madhavan Nair told space agency chiefs attending the 58th International Astronautical Congress in Hyderabad

He said the ISRO was designing an experimental satellite -- GSAT-6 -- for the purpose, which it plans to launch in the next three years. "It will make access cheaper with connectivity even in remote areas."