entertainment services on a common digital multiplex to
Astra 1E as part of an eight-year deal announced last
September, as well as providing other distribution services
on the Astra 1C satellite.
=20
France Telecom Combines Broadcast Services
France Telecom has combined its subsidiaries Keystone
Communications Corp. (USA) and Maxat Ltd. (UK) to form
GlobeCast.
Headquarted in Paris, the new GlobeCast division is
headed by Michel Combes, CEO. GlobeCast is now composed of
three well-established business units operating in the
world's most important media centres, each addressing its
own domestic/regional and intercontinental markets:
" GlobCast North America formerly Keystone - (Stephen
McNeeley, CEO) overseeing North America and parts of the
Asia Pacific region.
" GlobeCast Northern Europe formerly Maxat - (Sarah
Williams, CEO) managing services in the UK, the Netherlands.
Germany. Scandinavia and other important media markets such
as Israel.
" GlobeCast Paris formerly France Telecom Broadcast
Services World-wide Transmissions dept. (Alain Baget, VP
Sales & Marketing) managing services in France.
=20
Maxat Launches Bloomberg TV
Maxat (GlobeCast) has launched Bloomberg Information
Television in France, Italy, and Germany using Scientific-
Atlanta's PowerVu MPEG-2/DVB digital video compression
system.
The split-screen, multimedia format of Bloomberg
Information TV incorporates live broadcasts, radio programs,
text information, and scrolling market reports.
Every weekday morning the Bloomberg bureau in France
uplinks raw program footage to the Maxat digital multimedia
centre in London. The programming is relayed to the
Bloomberg office where it is edited, formatted, and returned
to Maxat for digital conversion and transmission via the
PowerVu digital video compression system to businesses,
banks, and cable headends over Eutelsat II F3. This process
is completed in less than two hours, going on the air at
6:30 a.m. in France.
=20
Lotte Data Communications
General Instrument said that Lotte Data Communications
Company of Seoul, Korea will purchase 200,000 Magnitude DVB
consumer satellite receiver kits for the first Direct-To-
Home (DTH) use in Korea.
The contract for the just-introduced Magnitude SR-3350
was signed by General Instrument's Magnitude Compression
Systems, Inc. subsidiary (MCS) and the Lotte Group of Lotte
Data Communications Company. Financial details of the
transaction were not disclosed.
The receivers will be used for Korea's first DTH
service, which is presently scheduled to be launched this
fall on KoreaSat 1 and 2. A customised Korean language
interactive program guide will be developed by MCS for the
receiver. Uplink sites are presently being finalised, and
MCS' Magnitude DVB compliant Encoder is being used in the
DTH service pilot project.
The SR-3350 uses MPEG-2/DVB digital technology and QPSK
satellite demodulation. Forward Error Correction and MPEG-2
decompression circuitry are housed within an ergonomic
chassis. Other features include high-speed data and
Interactive Pay Per View (IPPV) functions, MPEG-2 and DVB
compliance, a continuously variable wideband or full-range
tuner, NTSC or PAL video formats, single video and stereo
audio outputs, low and high speed data, enhanced security
with smart card reader and downloadable software. The 3350
model also comes equipped with additional capabilities such
as the Interactive Program Guide (IPG) with a multi-function
remote and a return-path modem for IPPV services.
=20
Scientific-Atlanta Delivers First IRIDIUM terminals
Scientific-Atlanta engineers have delivered three earth
terminals that comprise the first satellite communications
gateway for the IRIDIUM global communications system. The
gateway, installed in Tempe, Arizona, will undergo further
integration and test activities before completion in June.
Scientific-Atlanta's Communications and Tracking
Systems Division is under contract to build 57 earth
terminals. Forty-three earth terminals will be used in
communications gateways; 14 earth terminals will be used in
the system control segment that regulates the orbit of the
IRIDIUM satellites. System control segment earth terminals
have been installed at ground sites in Iceland, Canada, and
Hawaii, as well as at a testing site in Chandler, Arizona.
The communications gateway terminals comprise a 3-meter
(10-foot) dish inside a 5-meter (17-foot) radome and provide
the communications link via Ka-band (19.4-19.6 GHz for
downlinks, 29.1-29.3 GHz for uplinks) between the IRIDIUM
constellation of low earth orbit communications satellites
and public-switched telephone networks. This network
function makes communications possible between IRIDIUM
telephones and other telephones around the world.
The company also has a contract to provide maintenance
and support to the ground stations. Gateways will be owned
and operated by Iridium, LLC. investors. Additional
installations are scheduled for Europe and South America
later this year.
=20
Vyvx Advertising Distribution Services Upgrade
Vyvx Advertising Distribution Services will have
converted its satellite network to the digital format by
April 21. Nearly 600 broadcast stations and cable systems
across the nation which currently receive commercials from
Vyvx are in the process of upgrading to the new digital
receiver decoder.
The digital conversion package includes a General
Instrument DSR4500 digital satellite receiver, Vyvx Station
Interface Unit and associated cables and documentation.
Since the new units are "plug and play" compatible with
stations' existing satellite, audio, video, printer and VTR
interfaces, the conversion to digital will be immediate and
direct.
The package has been shipped to each television station
on the network previously serviced by Cycle Sat, Inc., which
was acquired by Vyvx, Inc. in November 1996. The digital
service will use GE-1, transponder 20.
Vyvx also announced beta network test plans for a new
compressed dedicated fibre video transmission.
This service, using MPEG II compression technology from
Nortel, will be carried over Vyvx's 11,000-mile coast-to-
coast fibre-optic network, enabling multiple video signals
to exist within the same DS-3 transmission path.
The MPEG II compressed dedicated video service will
occupy a bandwidth of 6.312 M/bs or DS-2, which can be
naturally multiplexed into a DS-3 or 45 M/bs stream. This
allows for cost-effective and simple drop, add, and pass
capabilities of MPEG II video signals within the DS-3
stream.
The service initially will be available in specific
test markets where demand is highest. The seven cities
involved in the test include New York, Chicago, Denver, Los
Angeles, Nashville, San Diego and Washington. Vyvx will
test the technology and service infrastructure for 60 days,
beginning April 30.
The purpose of the beta analysis is to test the
capability of the MPEG II equipment to be remotely
monitored, alarmed, switched and restored, if needed. The
success of the test will be measured by the acceptable
quality of video received by customers and the ability of
the service to be fully controlled and restored by Vyvx.
And in the analogue word, Vyvx will launch a full-
analogue, occasional-use video satellite service on April
17, with high power, simultaneous Ku-band coverage of North
America, South America and Europe.
The hub of the new service is Vyvx International's new,
fully-meshed transponder on the INTELSAT K. Making use of a
special "broadcast mode" configuration in the satellite,
this transponder receives from either of the INTELSAT K
uplink beams and projects to all of the downlink beams
simultaneously. Despite covering North and South America
and Europe, the downlink beams maintain the normal power of
INTELSAT K transponders.
Because all satellite beams remain switched on at all
times, operations for intercontinental broadcasting become
as simple as a local feed. Whether a broadcaster is
transmitting from a mobile or fixed earth station, the
uplinker can see a return signal from the satellite_even
when the uplink is in Europe and the destination downlink is
in South America, or the uplink is in the USA and the
downlink in Europe.
=20
Groupe AB and Radio Nostalgie
Groupe AB has signed an agreement with Radio
Nostalgie, one of the top five FM radio stations in France,
to launch a thematic music television channel under the
Nostalgie brand name.
The Nostalgie Channel, which is 100% owned by Groupe
AB, will be broadcast on AB Sat's digital TV service and
will replace the Melody channel in AB Sat's basic
programming package. Under the agreement, Groupe AB will
pay Radio Nostalgie for use of the Nostalgie brand name on a
per subscriber basis. In addition, the sale of advertising
space on the new channel will be subcontracted to Radio
Nostalgie.
Under a separate agreement, Groupe AB has agreed to
provide the Nostalgie Channel to Canalsatellite Numerique,
Canal Plus' digital satellite service, which will also
broadcast the channel in its basic package of digital TV
service.
=20
Upcoming Launches
" Check our web site for current listings of 1997
launches.
" Click on "Launch Info".
Next Atlas Launch Next Ariane Launch
GOES-K April 24 , 1997 Thaicom --April 16 6.59 -
1:56am - 3:19 am ET 7.41 pm ET
=20
New files and documents at our WebStand
1 DVB News International Vol. 2 No 3
1 PBS April programming schedule
1 PBS Weekly Previews
1 A&E April Prime Time schedule
=20
In Brief
" ORION 2 is expected to be launched in June 1999. The
satellite will provide international satellite
communications, such as high speed Internet access, private
data network services and video communications services.
" Tele-Communications, Inc., has been advised by the U.S.
Internal Revenue Service that the IRS will not rule on
TCI's three separate requests for rulings that the proposed
spin-offs by TCI to its shareholders would be tax free to
the respective TCI shareholders. In the absence of
favourable tax rulings, TCI will not effect the spin-offs.
" Microspace Communications has acquired a third
transponder on Galaxy IV. This new capacity will be used to
support Microspace's growing data and audio satellite
broadcast business.
The information contained in Satellite Journal International
MAY NOT be republished or redistributed without the prior
written authority of Satellite Journal International (see
end of issue for contact information ). SJI `s home forum
on Compuserve is (GO CIS:UKFORUM Sec 7). If you need to
download previous issues, all our files are in that library.
We also welcome anyone wishing to discuss satellite topics
to post messages to that section.
SJI is available via E-Mail. There is no charge for this
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Please specify which version you wish (HTML, WORD 6, ASCII).
The HTML version requires a web browser, however an Internet
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Now in our fifth year and the first `satellite news' service
on the World Wide Web (Jan 1994)
Visit our WebStand=99 at http://members.aol.com/satjournal
=20
=20
Satellite Journal Weekly--a news journal for
satellite professionals and enthusiasts.
SJI is produced in Burleson, Texas USA and Brantford,
Ontario Canada.
=20
Comments or news items may be sent to:
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