World Space In Satellite Radio Deal With 4 Japanese Cos

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Satellite radio broadcasting company WorldSpace Inc said yesterday it had awarded contracts to four Japanese electronics companies to manufacture a new generation of digital radio receivers.

WorldSpace chairman Noah Samara said the four companies were Hitachi Ltd, Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd (Panasonic), a subsidiary of Sanyo Electric Co and JVC Ltd.

Samara said the four companies would have the exclusive right for three years from 1998, when the first satellite is due to be launched, to make 30-45 million new radio sets to receive broadcasts from WorldSpaces new system.

The four Japanese firms were to formally announce the contracts in Singapore on Tuesday.

WorldSpace is putting together the worlds first satellite radio network. It plans to lease capacity on its satellites to broadcasters, offering high quality reception over a wide area of the world inhabited by some 4.6 billion people.