Consequently, voice channels of the Department of Telecommunictions, VSAT channels and some of the Doordarshan's terminals are being shifted to other satellites on a war footing.

Official sources in the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) told The Financial Express that the satellite, which already has exhausted its designed seven-year life, is likely to be abandoned as the oxidiser required for burning fuel on board has depleted to dangerous levels.

However, official spokesperson for ISRO S Krishnamurthy said "we have not yet lost complete hope on the satellite as efforts to revive it are still on".

Meanwhile, the users operating out of the 10 active transponders on board the satellite are being shifted to other satellites. Telecom Commission member NR Mukhariwale said the voice channels working out of the Insat-2B satellite are being shifted out to other satellites of the ISRO. The transfer is being done with least inconvenience to customers, he said.

Many long-distance voice channels, including some of the Bangalore-New Delhi circuits, function from Insat-2B. These are being shifted to Insat-2C, Insat-2DT, Insat-2E and Insat-3B. Also transferred to is a Thaicom satellite, on which ISRO has leased out some transponders recently. "The existing load on board the ailing satellite is being shifted to these satellite on a priority basis," Mr Krishnamurthy said.

The circuits of Doordarshan and VSATs using the Insat-2B transponders are also being distributed to other functional satellites. One transponder is being used by Doordarshan, while two are being used by VSAT users.

Thankfully, none of the VSAT users is affected by the failure of Insat-2B as the satellite failed at 2.30 pm on Friday ahead of the weekend. VSAT users include many commercial organisations such as stock exchanges and banks and financial institutions.

Insat-2B, launched in July 1993, had 12 C-band transponders and six tranponders in the extended C band. But most users have shifted out of the satellite well ahead in time and only eight tranponders were active at the time of the satellite losing earth lock on Friday evening.

ISRO sources said that since the satellite was co-located at 93.5 degrees East longitude along with Insat-2C, it was easy to immediately transfer some of the emergency load to that satellite.

Another satellite, Insat-2D, failed in 1997 within six months of its launch, forcing the ISRO to go in for leasing an entire satellite from Arabsat and renaming it as Insat-2DT to accommodate the piled-up load. Unlike the 1997 case, ISRO officials were forthcoming with information this time round as the satellite developed the snag only after spending its full life span of seven years in the orbit.