'Cakrawarta' starts services

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's first broadcasting satellite Cakrawarta I will commence test transmissions April 15, with full commercial services expected to start a month later, satellite operator Datakom Asia said yesterday.

The satellite has five transponders, each capable of serving eight channels, or a total of 40 channels. The services will be used by Datakom's subsidiary PT Matahari Lintas Cakrawala, known as Indovision, which operates a cable television service.

Datakom said that during the one-month test period, the first 30 of the 40 channels would be made available to Indovision's subscribers using 70-centimeter parabola dishes.

The company said Indovision had targeted 100,000 new subscribers in the first year of Cakrawarta's transmissions.

To reach the target, Indovision has reached an agreement with America's Thomson, a subsidiary of RCA, to supply it with decoders at more competitive prices. (gis)