APT Satellite has joined forces with US-based satellite service provider Intelsat to bid for the satellite television transmission rights for the Beijing Olympic Games in 2008. The Hong Kong-listed but China-based satellite service provider yesterday said it had signed a strategic co-operation agreement to work together with its US partner. The companies will sell each other satellite capacity in their base markets to boost revenues. 'The co-operation extends our coverage to European and North American countries which gives APT a global footprint,' said vice-president Brian Lo. Mr Lo said the alliance would also explore new business opportunities such as digital satellite broadcasting and the uplink service of satellite television channels. 'With the help of Intelsat's coverage, we have an advantage to handle satellite transmissions for the Olympic Games, as we have global coverage,' Mr Lo said. 'We will bid for the transmission rights.' APT expected the co-operation to create more business opportunities and Mr Lo said the partnership would be able to provide a one-stop service for clients. 'We expect the co-operation will also raise our revenues,' he said, though this would require raising demand for the use of satellite feeds. 'With the recovery of the global economy, the demand for satellite transponders has steadily grown but there is still oversupply of capacity. 'There is also competition between submarine cable transmission and satellite. We need to create more demand for the use of satellite, such as broadcasting service.' The co-operation agreement would go some way to achieving this outcome, he said, since it would stimulate the utilisation rate of APT's two satellites.