Allarcom
     Allarcom Pay Television Limited also received
permission for a new national video-on-demand service The
application was for a broadcasting licence for a national,
digital, English- and French-language video-on-demand (VOD)
programming undertaking.
     Allarcom Pay Television Limited (Allarcom) is the
licensee of two English-language pay television programming
undertakings (SuperChannel and MOVIEMAX), and of a pay-per-
view (PPV) and a direct-to-home PPV programming undertaking,
all of which are licensed to serve Western Canada.
         Egypt to Launch First Satellite in November
     Egypt's first satellite NILESAT will be launched in
November. The French-made satellite, will have 12
transponders each airing six digital programs. Ground
facilities necessary for the operation of the 158-million-
dollar satellite have been completed at the October 6 City
in southern Cairo. The lifespan of the NILESAT is estimated
at a minimum of 12 years.
           XIPS-power satellite launch marking era
     Aerospace experts are counting down to a new era for
commercial satellites with the approaching launch of
PanAmSat Corp.'s PAS-5 satellite. It is equipped with
revolutionary thrusters and is set for launch next month.
(ZIHPS) thrusters powered by ionized xenon gas, should keep
it on orbit five years longer than the average 15-year,
liquid-propellant satellite.
   Russia to use RS-20s for commercial satellite launches
     Russia's decommissioned ballistic missiles SS-18 (RS-
20), will be used to launch commercial satellites. The
missiles will be used at the Russian launch centre Plesetsk,
Arkhangelsk region as Rokot boosters. The Russian government
has ordered to adapt Plesetsk's launch-pad of Kosmos rockets
for the Rokot.  The first launch is planned in early 1998.
After the Plesetsk launch-pads are remade, some six Rokot
boosters will lift off yearly with commercial satellites.
        Vyvx, Inc. 'Backhauls' Major League Baseball
     Complete broadcast coverage of the 1997 All-Star Game
in Cleveland, Ohio,  was transmitted across the U.S. for
uplinking to 204 countries by fibre-optic.
     Vyvx transmitted the All-Star Game from Jacobs Field in
Cleveland to various teleports on the east and west coasts
for uplinking to Asia, Europe, Central and South America.
This is the second year in a row that Vyvx has furnished the
major fibre feed for the All-Star Game.  In addition, Vyvx
is providing MLBI with leased satellite space segment to
Asia.
              HNS to Supply Satellite Equipment
     Hughes Network Systems, Inc. will supply Sistemas
Tecnicos de Loterias del Estado (STL) with Spain's first
VSAT-based lottery network. The contract, which is valued at
approximately $10 million, will provide on-line lottery
services nation-wide.  HNS will deliver its Integrated
Satellite Business Network consisting of Ku-Band earth
stations, fully redundant satellite and baseband equipment.
     The network, which will use the HISPASAT 1A satellite,
is scheduled to be operational in early September of this
year.  A total of 2,400 VSATs will be commissioned and in
service by that time.
"    Classic Sports Network is exploring a possible sale to
 either the Walt Disney Co. or FOX. Classic Sports has nearly
 11 million subscribers nationally including cable and
 satellite delivery.
"    A federal appeals court has upheld a preliminary
 injunction won by Time Warner Inc. that is keeping Rupert
 Murdoch's Fox News and Bloomberg Informational Television
 off a municipal cable television channel.
--- PCBoard (R) v15.3/M 2
---------------