KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 6): Binasat Communications Bhd is eyeing double-digit top line growth for its satellite internet broadband services, as it aims to attract more customers from the maritime, and oil and gas sectors.

The group’s executive director cum chief executive officer Zulamran Hamat said the maritime and oil and gas industries are increasingly adopting the Very Small Aperture Terminal (VAST) system.

“This is another untapped market which we are eyeing. Our RM13 million investment in 2018 has now come into commercialisation, and our objective is to grab the low-hanging fruit sectors such as maritime, and oil and gas,” he said in a statement.

Binasat has started working with the government sector to roll-out satellite internet broadband services. It won contracts to set up a total of 275 satellite facilities for the Kelantan and Pahang state governments.

“We believe this will help push forward the digitalisation efforts and narrow the digital divide in these areas that lack the existing telco infrastructure. It also helps us build on our track record and expand our services to other local state councils,” said Zulamran.

“Instead of waiting for the deployment of telco infrastructures that involve fibre optic and other internet cables, consumers could easily gain access to the internet by installing a device that taps on the satellite broadband services.

“We are also confident that the deployment of our satellite broadband services will gain traction with more customers coming on board. This will help generate a long-term sustainable, recurring income for the group,” he added.

Under the collaboration with Kelantan ICT Gateway Sdn Bhd and Pahang Go Sdn Bhd, Binasat will first set up 225 satellite facilities for Kelantan and 50 for Pahang.

The group expects to complete the job for Pahang before end-2023 and within the first half of 2024 for Kelantan.

Binasat’s roles include the setting up of the satellite internet service, while the state governments will provide site lists and power supply to the equipment.

Shares of Binasat closed unchanged at 30.5 sen on Friday (Jan 6), giving the group a market capitalisation of RM118.43 million.