MANSAT boss Chris Stott told a Tynwald scrutiny committee that the island’s space industry was providing a huge benefit for the Manx exchequer.
And he defended his company’s exclusivity deal with the Communications Commission, insisting it had brought jobs and opportunities to the island and that introducing competition would be ‘counter-productive’.
Under an agreement drawn up in 2004, ManSat was given an exclusive contract to administer the orbital filing system which allows companies to identify slots in space in which they want to place their satellites. In return, it agreed to pay the Manx Government a proportion of its revenue as a licence fee.
In his evidence to Tynwald’s Economic Policy Review Committee investigating the government’s space industry policy, ManSat chairman and chief executive Chris Stott said the industry had benefited the Manx Treasury to the tune of $70 million over the last 12 years – and that ManSat had paid $576,000 in licence fees since 2004.
Committee chairman Leonard Singer MHK pointed to the Department of Economic Development’s reports which suggested a net liability from the space industry of £538,000.
‘I believe they are wrong,’ said Mr Stott.
The 2004 agreement, which formalised the exchange of letters dating back to the embyronic stages of the space industry, was due to run out in December 2010 but contained a clause that allowed for a further 15 year extension. In the event, that extension was reduced to 2016.
Mr Stott said, from memory, it had been the Attorney General’s office that had suggested the extension clause be put in the contract.
He said it was a recognition of the long-term nature of the industry. ‘When you are making those filings you need absolute regulatory certainty that the process you are about to begin is going to be there when you need it to be there.
‘The government at the time understood this.
‘If you are about to put $500 million or more on the line on the life-cycle cost of a satellite, the cost of the satellite manufacturer, the cost of the launch, the cost of the insurance, the operations and the roll-out, you are looking at a 15 to 20 year commitment.’
Mr Stott confirmed that out of 66 filings there had only been one successful launch to date but to have even one in 12 years was ‘amazing’.
Mr Singer asked: ‘Is exclusivity not impeding the development in the Isle of Man?’ ‘No, quite the opposite,’ the witness replied.
He insisted that allowing other companies to set up in competition would be counter-productive as the quality of service would be diminished as prices were pushed down.
There are 36 satellite space and communications companies working through the island.