WorldSpace Digital Satellite Radio and Multimedia Services

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Submitted by WorldSpace

WorldSpace is the worldwide pioneer in direct-to-receiver satellite audio service. The WorldSpace business was founded in 1990 by Noah A. Samara, its Chairman and CEO. The company delivers digital audio and multimedia programming directly to listeners using specially manufactured, portable receivers. Since its inception, WorldSpace has been dedicated to serving developing countries by making audio broadcasts available where there are no terrestrial radio stations.

Audio service to Africa and the Middle East began in October 1999 via the AfriStar satellite, and multi-media services will be available in select African markets towards the end of 2000. The AsiaStar satellite was successfully launched in March, 2000 and will shortly begin service to Asia. One more satellite is planned to provide service to Latin America. With all of the satellites in place, the potential audience for the WorldSpace service is over 4.6 billion people.

Programming and Multimedia Services

Over forty content providers are currently available on the WorldSpace system, with many new broadcasters expected. News, music, education and entertainment programs are available to more than 1 billion people in Africa and the Middle East via the AfriStar satellite. Programming is available in a variety of languages, including Arabic, English, French, Hindi, Italian, Pakistani, Spanish, Swahili, Tamil, Wolof and others.

On May 17th, the WorldSpace Foundation and Satellife announced a new health-oriented broadcasting service designed to assist medical professionals in Africa. The broadcasts will be available initially in Zimbabwe, Kenya, Uganda and Ethiopia. For a complete list of WorldSpace programming partners, see the WorldSpace Web site (http://www.WorldSpace.com).

The WorldSpace planned multimedia service will deliver up to 1.3 gigabytes per day of web content directly to the PCs of customers in developing countries. As a one-way service, WorldSpace multimedia will supplement traditional internet services by offering popular, educational and informative web-style content for a monthly fee without any "per-minute" telephone line charges. The amount of content will be roughly equivalent to getting two CD-ROMs filled with web content on a daily basis.

The multimedia service is designed to deliver content directly to the hard drive of a Pentium-class PC through the WorldSpace PC Card, and/or the WorldSpace receiver with a Digital Data Adapter (DDA). There is no need for recipients of the multimedia service to have a telephone line.

WorldSpace Mobile TELEKIOSKs

TELEKIOSKs are part of a WorldSpace initiative launched at Africa TELECOM 1998 in Johannesburg. The WorldSpace TELEKIOSK is a mobile or stationary "technology center" that provides comprehensive information and communications services to populations in rural, remote and underserved areas. The first pilot TELEKIOSK project began in Mali in November 1999, sponsored by SOTELMA (Telecom Mali).

WorldSpace TELEKIOSKs, both mobile and fixed, offer the following services:

digital audio programs via satellite
data broadcasting (text, audio and pictures)
multimedia services (depending on regional availability)
education and health programs
emergency, natural disaster and humanitarian relief information
telephone and fax services

The TELEKIOSK has the potential to become a centre for community development in social and cultural activities. It can also offer support for local small businesses and may provide facilities, equipment, training and assistance for local WorldSpace broadcasting stations.

The WorldSpace mobile TELEKIOSK is an air-conditioned truck equipped with basic WorldSpace and telecom services. It is used in survey and test markets to train people and determine which services best meet local needs. The first prototype is divided into four areas:

Multimedia: 4 working stations with WorldSpace digital satellite receivers, PCs, and printing. This area offers WorldSpace audio and multimedia content. (depending on regional availability)
Radio Studio: For local radio shows, recordings and rebroadcasting. It also includes an outside area for social and community development activities.
Public Telephones: 2 Schlumberger® "Publiphones" and 1 INMARSAT "Publisat"
General Equipment: Power generator, air conditioning, security and fire alarms, various antennas

As of June 2000, WorldSpace planned to install four fixed TELEKIOSKs in Mali and ten school telecenters in Ethiopia.

Technology

WorldSpace developed the new technologies that lie at the heart of the satellite service in cooperation with global industry leaders, including: Alcatel Espace, Fraunhofer Institut Integrierte Schaltungen, Micronas Intermetall, Matra Marconi Space, and SGS-Thompson Microelectronics.

The satellites use on-board processing to enable program reception from many stations. Content providers on the WorldSpace system can uplink their programs via the traditional hub method, sending broadcast signals to a central location for transmission to the satellite. A second mode enables use of smaller, more mobile Feeder Link Stations (FLS). Onboard processing technology converts these multiple signals at the satellite, combining them into a single downlink signal before transmitting them back to earth.

Satellites: Upon completion, the WorldSpace network will consist of three geostationary satellites. AfriStar™ and AsiaStar™ were successfully launched in October 1998 and March 2000, respectively, and are in orbit now. AmeriStar™ is scheduled for launch in 2001.

Figure 1: Worldspace satellite footprints

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Coverage: The satellites transmit to three overlapping coverage areas of approximately 14 million square kilometers each (Figure 1). Each of the satellites' 3 powerful spot beams can deliver over 50 channels of audio and multimedia programming.

Receivers: Consumer electronics manufacturers Hitachi, JVC, Matsushita (Panasonic) and Sanyo designed and built portable radio receivers specifically for WorldSpace. The receivers are sold by distributors worldwide and typically retail at prices between US$200 and US$400.

Figure 2: WorldSpace Receivers
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The WorldSpace digital satellite system broadcasts in the "L" band frequencies (1467-1492 MHz), which were allocated for Direct Audio Broadcast Service at the World Administrative Radiocommunication Conference of 1992.

In 1998, WorldSpace acquired a 10% stake in Freeplay Energy (then called BayGen Power Group), the developer and manufacturer of self-powered wind-up radios. Collaboration began between the two companies to develop self-powered receivers for the WorldSpace line of products. However, research and development efforts to produce self-powered WorldSpace receivers have not produced immediate results because WorldSpace receivers require much more energy than typical radio sets. The companies continue to explore avenues to bring the benefits of crank-operated radios to remote areas.

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