Govt plans cell phone relay satellite,ADB confab kicks off in Kyoto

The Yomiuri Shimbun

Plans to launch a satellite to create an emergency cell phone relay station in space were announced by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry on Tuesday.
The stationary orbital satellite with an antenna more than twice the size of any existing satellite antenna, would be used to secure mobile phone connections when ground base relay stations have been knocked out in an earthquake or other natural disasters.
The ministry hopes to have the system running by the end of fiscal 2015.
Cell phones that use communications satellites are already in use, but the large size of the equipment for sending and receiving signals restricts it to users with special handsets.
The ministry's plan would require equipment capable of receiving satellite-based signals to fit in normal-sized cell phone handsets. This requires a larger antenna on the satellite. For an average-sized cell phone handset to use a satellite phone service, the antenna would have to be more than twice the size of the largest existing communications satellite--the test satellite Kiku No. 8, launched in December by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency that has an antenna 19 meters in diameter.
The ministry's satellite would have an antenna 50 meters in diameter.
In a disaster, there could be many areas where people cannot use cell phones due to damage to the local base station. Also, people making calls to confirm the safety of friends and family are likely to overload remaining base stations.
Setting up a base station in space would ensure calls for help reach the relevant authorities in time, allow people to confirm loved ones' safety without clogging regular mobile networks and relay calls to and from places that have lost connections.
The ministry plans to spend five years from fiscal 2008 developing this mega-antenna, which would be sent into geosynchronous orbit 36,000 kilometers above the Earth--the same orbit used for broadcast satellites.
The ministry plans to set up a consortium of relevant ministries and agencies as well as communication firms and cell phone manufacturers to start technical studies into the system. The ministry also plans to ask for about 2 billion yen for research and development in the budget request for fiscal 2008. The ministry said the total cost of developing and launching the satellite has not been determined.
The orbital relay station, when fully operational, will allow people to call for help even in mountainous areas or at sea, where no ground station is available. The ministry also is considering making the system available for areas not normally covered by cell phone stations.

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ADB confab kicks off in Kyoto

Takahiro Tsujimoto/ Daily Yomiuri Staff Writer
The Asian Development Bank's 40th annual convention began Friday in Kyoto, with issues such as the Asian economy, poverty, the environment as well as the region's economic integration on the agenda.
About 3,000 people, including finance ministers and top officials of finance ministries and central banks, will attend the four-day meeting, according to the ADB.
Events including seminars and meetings among finance ministers of member countries will be held in the city.
Ten years have passed since the adoption of the Kyoto Protocol, which set targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, so environmental and energy issues are expected to be covered at length at the meeting.
"We will be showcasing a number of initiatives under our Clean Energy and Environment Program, including the newly launched Clean Energy Financing Partnership Facility, which will help developing Asian countries move toward the adoption of cleaner energy sources and technologies," ADB President Haruhiko Kuroda said at a press conference in Kyoto on Friday.
Japan, which holds the largest voting rights with the United States in the bank, is expected to propose establishing a fund to help tackle environmental problems in the region. The government plans to contribute 100 million dollars to the fund.
At a seminar the same day, efforts by countries such as China, India and Singapore to reduce pollution were reported.
It also has been a decade since Asia was stung by a currency crisis. Explaining what steps countries in the region can take to prevent a similar crisis is expected to be another focal point of the meeting.
At a meeting scheduled for Saturday, ministers of Association of Southeast Asian Nations member countries and Japan, China and South Korea are expected to agree on strengthening the Chiang Mai Initiative--an Asiawide network of currency swap agreements to help countries facing a short-term liquidity shortage--to deepen the relationship among them.
This will be the first time the annual convention has been held in Japan since Fukuoka in 1997