Cortina said missed television classes would be repeated later. But he said it would take emergency brigades of technicians three weeks to restore service to some of the schools, whose antennas must be reoriented to capture signals from other satellites. The Mexico City newspaper El Universal reported Monday that the satellite collapse had knocked out its service to 50 subscribers of its news service. El Universal had turned to the Internet in place of the satellite, agency editor Manuel Nolasco said. Gonzalez said the satellite's customers included 28 companies, mostly in the television and radio broadcasting and telecommunications businesses.
Half are Mexican companies.
Satmex said Solidaridad 1 was orbiting 21,00- miles above the earth at 15,000 mph. When the battery runs out, Satmex will be unable to recover the satellite. The cause of Sunday's failure was under investigation, Gonzalez said. Hector Rangel Domene, president of the Mexican Bankers Association, said last year's satellite shutdown affected financial transactions throughout Mexico, prompting banks to switch to backup networks and move communications to a newer satellite. Past Weeks' News Archives - Archives of past weeks' Daily Selected News Stories.