- - - EchoStar Stock Jump, SHVA Not Related - - -

A drastic jump in the EchoStar stock price Tuesday bewildered industry analysts.

Shares in the DBS company that operates the DISH Network satellite TV service closed up $13.19 at $106.25.

Washington, D.C. insiders watching the development of the Satellite Home Viewers Act (SHVA) surmised that it was unlikely the stock jump had anything to do with the developing legislation. They did say, however, that the compromise proposal presented by House members of the Congressional Conference Committee late last week contains several positive components for the satellite industry. News reports indicate the House offer stipulates that distant network subscribers who live in areas without local-into-local service can receive two distant feeds, and that satellite TV providers would have a grace period before retransmission c onsent provisions take effect.

Conference Committee staff will continue to meet this week to discuss the compromise bill, however sources said it's not likely they will complete their work until this Congressional session begins to wind down next month.

- - - WorldSpace Up and Running in Africa - - -

The Washington, D.C.-based satellite radio company WorldSpace launched its free digital audio broadcast system in Africa Tuesday.

Although test programming has been transmitted through WorldSpace's AfriStar satellite for months, Tuesday marked the official inauguration of the service, which will supply more than 25 channels of multilingual news, music and entertainment. AfriStar's footprint covers all of Africa and the Middle East. It can be picked up by WorldSpace receivers that have been manufactured by Hitachi, JVC, Panasonic and Sanyo.

Sales and distribution of the WorldSpace receivers is being handled by the manufacturers. A WorldSpace spokesman said the equipment is available through local consumer electronics stores.

WorldSpace programmers for the African service include CNN International, Bloomberg, the Kenya Broadcasting Company, Egyptian Radio and Television, Media 1 of Casablanca, Radio Sud of Dakar and others.

WorldSpace Chairman and CEO Noah Samara said, "We're delighted with the diversity of broadcasters that we have been able to offer our listeners. This validates our long-held belief that a critical need exists for high quality programming that reaches a much wider geographic audience than with today's convention analog radio systems."

AfriStar, which was launched just under a year ago, was the first broadcast satellite for the WorldSpace system. The company's second satellite, AsiaStar, is scheduled to launch next February and AmeriStar will follow later in 2000.

- - - Arianespace, Loral Celebrate Launch Success - - -

Arianespace successfully launched the Orion 2 satellite for Loral Space & Communications from French Guiana Tuesday.

Loral said the Orion 2, which features 36 high-powered Ku-band transponders, will be placed into the orbital spot at 15 degrees West Longitude. It will expand Loral Skynet's existing capacity across the Atlantic, covering all of Europe - from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ural Mountains - as well as South America and the east coast of North America. The satellite will also deliver spot beam coverage of South Africa. Loral said the bird should be operational in late December.

This was the sixth successful launch this year for the Ariane 4 rocket, according to the Associated Press.

Loral Skynet of Bedminster, N.J. is a satellite communications service provider that operates and manages the leasing of capacity on the Telstar and Orion satellite fleets and on the recently-acquired Apstar2R satellite. Loral Skynet customers use the capacity to distribute network television and programming, collect live video feeds, deliver data, provide distance learning and for other business television services.

- - - Arianespace Launch Site Historically Active - - -

To make up for costly delays that left the Kourou launch site in French Guiana idle for several months this year, news sources report the European consortium Arianespace is packing eight launches into the last four and a half months of 1999.

"Mathematically, we'll break a new record," said Jean-Charles Vincent, director of operations and Arianespace chief at Kourou.

The current record for the French-led consortium was set in 1995, with nine launches in less than six months, according to a space news agency. The delays making this year's irregular schedule necessary were caused by manufacturing problems with satellites Arianespace rockets were scheduled to boost into orbit. Four such disruptions this year interrupted Arianespace's launch schedule.

The fast launch pace that started last August will peak in November. Four programs, with three Ariane-4s and one Ariane-5, are organized to run concurrently, using two launch pads. Years of experience and state- of-the-art software have enabled Arianespace teams to cut the launch program down to around 25days.

"This," said Vincent, "is an exceptional and exciting time for us."

- - - COMPETITIVE WATCH: - - -

• AT&T Major NAACP Program Sponsor -
  AT&T Broadband & Internet Services(AT&T BIS) is one of the primary sponsors of an HIV/AIDS awareness and outreach film series produced by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. AT&T BIS, along with cable companies like Cablevision, Comcast, Cox, Falcon, MediaOne and Time Warner, will showcase the on their cable systems.

• Retailer To Sell High-Speed RCA Modem -
  The national consumer electronics chain Circuit City will launch sales of Thomson Consumer Electronics' CableLabs certified RCA DCM105 high-speed digital cable modem in 17 of its stores. As part of the purchase, consumers will receive a MediaOne Road Runner pre-installation kit for connection to Road Runner Internet service.

• Business Network Honors WICT -
  Women in Cable & Telecommunications(WICT) received the Business Women's Network Communications Award Monday at a gala awards dinner in Washington, D.C. WICT said it received the award for its efforts to educate and empower professional women.

• Horowitz Released New TV Research -
  New York-based researchers Horowitz Associates have launched its sixth survey in a series on digital satellite systems, digital television and digital cable service. The report, called "Digital TV VI: A Survey of Consumers in Digital Cable Markets," will be available early next year for $12,000. For more information visit www.horowitzassociates.com.

• Telewest Orders Philips Compression Equipment -
  Britain's Telewest Communications has placed an order with Philips for digital cable head-end compression equipment. Philips said the 36-channel system offers fully redundant compression and multiplexing and employs state-of-the-art StreamFlex encoders.

• Ericsson Makes Telecom News -
  Ericsson released several announcements last week at the Telecom '99 show in Switzerland. The company introduced its Network Resource Manager and Service Level Manager for the AXI 520 gigarouter. Ericsson, along with Washington, D.C.-based Diginet, announced the deployment of a fixed wireless broadband multi- service platform in Brazil and Columbia. The Icelandic telecommunications company Islandssimi selected Ericsson to build a multi-service network for corporate users. And Ericsson was awarded a contract worth $180million by British Telecommunications to supply next-generation switches to upgrade BT's existing telephony network.