NEWS BYTES
The Israeli cabinet approved on November 20 the launching of five thematic commercial channels – Russian/Amharic, Arabic, Israeli heritage, news, and Israeli/Middle Eastern music. The free-to-air channels, which will be...
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ASIASAT BORROWS $250M
Hong Kong-based AsiaSat (half-controlled by Astra) has negotiated a US$250 million (E297.97m) syndicated loan to part-finance the building of AsiaSat 4 and 5. AsiaSat 4 will be positioned at the...
CZECH HONOURS EU TV RULES
The Czech Republic has approved draft legislation that sees it harmonise local regulations that affect satellite and cable broadcasters. Jan Pelcova from the government office press department says various amendments...
INTERSPUTNIK PLANS 100 SMALL SATELLITES
Intersputnik (international organisation for space communications) revealed in Moscow that it intends to launch some 100 small telecommunication satellites, each of 500kg in weight. These satellites will be used for...
NEW BACKING FOR SKY GLOBAL
Saudi financier Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, nephew of Saudi Arabia’s King Fahd, has said that he is potentially interested in becoming an investor in News Corp’s satellite television spin-off, Sky...
LORAL BUYS GLOBALSTAR CREDIT FACILITY
Loral Space & Communications has acquired all of a bank credit facility under which Globalstar had borrowed $500 million (E593.02 million). The purchase was financed by a new $500 million...
SKY ADDS MORE INTERACTIVITY
BSkyB will shortly add two new dimensions to its Sky News Active channel. The first, BSkyB’s WAP-based on-screen service will start within the next two weeks, according to Dave Sparks,...
ALBORAN TO USE SATELLITE TO DELIVER INTERNET TV CHANNELS
A new satellite battle is set to ignite the Italian market, but this time it will not involve pay-TV operators Tele+ and Stream. Internet via satellite pioneer Netsystem.com is set...
GERMAN CARTEL OFFICE PROBES TELEKOM'S INVESTMENT IN BETA RESEARCH
The Federal German Cartel Office, Bundeskartellamt, has launched an intensified investigation into Deutsche Telekom’s plan to acquire 51 per cent in Beta Research, Kirch Group’s d-box technology subsidiary. In a...
NEW SKIES' FIGURES GO INTO ORBIT
New Skies Satellites NV, the satellite communications company, reported record revenue, operating income and net income in its third quarter 2000 results. Revenues for the three-month period ended September 30,...