BBC to build new transmitter

BBC to build new transmitter

BANGKOK (Reuter): Buddhist monks joined in a ceremony in
central Thailand yesterday to start building of a British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) radio-relay station that should
improve reception for listeners from Beijing to Bombay.

The monks blessed a marble foundation stone laid at the
transmitter's site in the province of Nakhon Sawan, 240
kilometers north of Bangkok, a British embassy official said.

The station is due to begin broadcasting radio programs in up
to 10 languages, including English, by the end of 1996.

The programs relayed from Nakhon Sawan will reach 40 percent
of the world's population, Bob Phillis, deputy director-general
of the BBC, said in a statement. Thai and British officials
signed an agreement last May to build the US$46.8 million short-
wave facility.