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WorldSpace launches 22 radio channels in India

WorldSpace Corp, a US-based satellite audio broadcaster, said on Wednesday it had launched 22 radio channels in India following the government's decision to open up frequency modulation radio broadcasting to private firms earlier this year.

A company statement said it had signed up with domestic broadcasters including Radio Mid-Day, Asianet group's RM Radio, VRG Spaceradio and All India Radio for the new channels.

"Eight of the 22 channels have Indian content and consumers can choose from various music and talk programmes," M Sebastian, director business development at WorldSpace, told a news conference.

He said Indian consumers could choose from a wide variety of international broadcasters such as the BBC and CNN.

The direct-to-receiver satellite audio service can be received through portable proprietary sets priced at between Rs 4,400 and Rs 9,990.

The receivers will be sold in India through leading Indian consumer electronics firm BPL Ltd, with whom WorldSpace has struck a strategic alliance.

Sebastian said the firm was aiming to sell 250,000 receivers to Indian consumers by the end of 2001, to reach an approximate audience of one million people.

The launch of the services follows the Indian government's decision earlier this year to throw open its FM radio broadcasting to private players.

The country's federal government auctioned licenses to private companies, allowing them to begin broadcasting from 40 cities in an industry which had previously been a government monopoly.

Sebastian said the firm faced no regulatory hurdles in unveiling its service in India.

WorldSpace, founded in 1990, provides digital audio communications and multi-media services through three geostationary satellites.

It began broadcasting in Africa and the Middle East in 1999 using its AfriStar satellite and launched the AsiaStar satellite in March 2000, the statement said. AmeriStar will be launched in 2001 and will provide services to Latin America and the Caribbean.

More than 30,000 receivers have been manufactured and are being sold in Africa, while another 100,000 are expected to be manufactured and distributed by the end of the year, the statement said.

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