French-RI satellite deal

French-RI satellite deal

PARIS (AFP): French satellite company Canal France
International has signed a deal with an Indonesian firm to boost
its coverage into Southeast Asia, the firm announced Wednesday.

The seven-year contract gives CFI access to the Indonesian
satellite Palapa C1, due to be launched in May 1996, serving the
whole of Southeast Asia from India to China and will reach to the
South Pacific, "towards Australia and New Zealand," a statement
said.

The French company said the deal would improve its network
already in place in the region, allowing it to broadcast five
hours of programming daily, in French and dubbed into local
languages, in a regionalization plan which would be implemented
"within the next two years."