Digital music and downloads on satellite radio

By Vishnu K. Mahmud

JAKARTA (JP): Back in my pre-Internet days, far from home and television, my only source of information and entertainment was my short wave radio. I'd listen to the BBC news, relayed every hour, and would always be annoyed at the background hiss and crackle. Now, in the heyday of Internet multimedia and cable TV, radio is probably dead. Or is it? Noah Samara does not think so.

Samara is the CEO of Worldspace Corporation, a provider of digital audio and multimedia which is beamed down directly by satellite. He believes that the fundamental difference between people, no matter if they are rich or poor, is access to information. However, people in sub-Saharan countries or those living far from urban areas may lack the informational service or facilities that the everyday city dweller takes for granted. Many radio and TV stations target cities more then the small provincial town off the beaten trail. This is where Worldspace comes in.

Originally designed to create direct audio broadcasts via satellite to stop the spread of AIDS in Africa, Worldspace aims to educate the masses with their news, entertainment content and instructive programs. Targeting the Asian, African and Latin American regions, the programs offered are rich in variety. In addition to the familiar BBC, MTV and CNN broadcasts, Worldspace has its own multiple music channels that pipe out pop, jazz, rock, classical, country music and radio plays. Each channel runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Using special digital receivers, people can obtain this variety of "radio" channels provided direct from Worldspace headquarters in Washington, D.C. Partnered with global news and entertainment organizations, the company has also joined forces with various national radio stations to supply local music content for each region. There are Thai and African music channels as well as Arabic and Turkish stations. In Indonesia, Radio Republik Indonesia (RRI) and the Masima Corporation (parent company of the popular Prambors radio station in Jakarta) has joined Worldspace to provide some local entertainment and news.

Right now, there are four digital receivers on the market. Manufactured by JVC, Sanyo, Panasonic and Hitachi, these receivers were priced under US$250. You can actually buy them in Indonesia at the Agis Electronics Superstore in Jakarta for between about Rp 1,150,000 (for the portable short-wave model) and Rp 1,500,000 (the larger model). Each receiver differs in size and weight but all have crystal clear satellite reception and a data port for multimedia downloads (more about that later).

The design of the receivers vary. The Panasonic model comes across as an upscale clock radio (like a Bose CD/Radio) while the Hitachi model looks like an everyday basic (but rather bulky) short-wave radio. Sound quality also varies from the stereo sound of the JVC to the single speaker audio of the portable Sanyo. However, all units have line out and headphone jacks so attaching it to your current stereo system should be easy.

Listening to these crystal clear radio broadcasts takes me back to the days when power failures were common. There was nothing to do but listen to the battery powered radio. With that in mind, Worldspace made sure that each radio is powerful enough to receive the satellite signals but efficient enough to be powered by AC, batteries or even a solar panel.

The one thing that piqued my interest, however, is the ability of each digital receiver to download multimedia information or Internet data straight to your computer. Armed with an adapter cable and special card for the PC, one can download the data equivalent of a CD (about 650 megabytes) in less then three minutes. The data port on the radio has the ability to receive data at the rate of 128 kilobits per second. Compare that with your 33 kbps modem.

For example, you can download an Internet site directly to your hard drive and surf that site without the need of connecting to the Internet. You are, nonetheless, limited to the content provided by Worldspace since the data stream is one way. In other words, you cannot surf over to Playboy.com and request to download the entire site, photos and all, via satellite. Worldspace is currently searching for multimedia partners to provide content that can be downloaded and utilized offline by the user. For partners, the potential reach of over a billion people in Asia alone is staggering.

This feature is not a broadband solution for the developing world, nor is it a competitor to the local Internet Service Providers (ISP). This receiver was meant to complement the Internet in areas where phone charges or Internet fees are high. One can use Worldspace to download news and other content and employ the Internet to send and receive e-mail, chat and research. The British Medical Journal is a content partner and its scientific studies and educational papers can be spread quickly and efficiently. This subscription-based multimedia service is already running in Africa and should commence in Asia by the end of the year.

Backed by individual investors, Worldspace has poured in nearly a billion dollars for three satellites (Africa, Asia and Latin America), a couple of state of the art studios and a worldwide audience. It plans to collect revenue from (content) capacity service agreements, advertising sales, multimedia subscriptions and a percentage of royalties on receiver sales.

The Ethiopian-born Samara wanted to help bridge the digital divide. He believes that news and education can be distributed efficiently by radio more then any other medium. And giving everyone the same information and education would level the playing field and help cultivate the underdeveloped regions in Africa and Asia. With relatively low-cost radio receivers and tons of content, that dream can be achieved. (vmahmud@yahoo.com)

For more information, log on to www.worldspace.com (http://www.worldspace.com).