U.S. companies hoping to join the consortium are Intelsat, Hughes Space and Communications, African Continental Telecommunications and Comsat. Considered the biggest pan-African investment, the satellite project is intended to propel Africa into the 21st century by giving it telephone links within the continent and the rest of the world. The system will include installation of 500,000 fixed solar-powered telephone stations with international access. Digital Broadcasts Via JSkyB Fuji Television Network will start digital broadcasting via satellite beginning in late April. The network will offer three channels through Japan Sky Broadcasting's platform.
Content includes variety shows and sports.
JSkyB and PerfecTV will merge operations in early April, creating the nation's largest digital satellite broadcasting platform. That improvement offset the continued downturn at Blockbuster and a sharp profit drop at Paramount Pictures. Not all was bad at the video rental unit. Blockbuster saw a 2 percent increase in video rental revenues during the quarter, adjusted for new store openings, the first such increase since the second quarter of 1996. DigitalXpress Enhances Services, Gets Oakwood Contract DigitalXpress, a St. Paul-based provider of satellite communications services, has added full screen and full motion desktop video delivery to its suite of broadcast communication services.