LONDON: lntelsat has announced a tie up with ARTEL, the business solutions provider, for delivering satellite direct-to-home (DTH) services through the Armed Forces Radio and Television Service (AFRTS) to individuals living in over 15,000 households in Korea and Japan.

Intelsat's solution enables AFRTS to deliver four distinct services on six television channels, a programme guide and 11 radio programming services through the American Forces Network (AFN), a worldwide radio and broadcast network, to keep Americans outside the US informed of current events.

According to an Intelsat release, the radio stations include a primary news, talk and sports channel that broadcasts over 500 live professional and collegiate sports each year, seven music stations, Fox Sports Plus and ESPN Sport Plus. The television channels include a wide selection of the network and cable programming that is seen daily in the US.

AFRTS says that it asked for Intelsat type capacity for this solution because of their strong regional coverage and high reliability. The quality of the Intelsat signal is excellent and exceeded expectations during the trial phase. AFRTS is planning to expand to six distinct TV services during the next few years. The Intelsat 802 not only sends powerful and clear DTH signals, but allows the AFRTS to use antennas as small as 60 centimeters. AFRTS also utilizes three other Intelsat satellites to distribute AFN and Direct-to-Sailor (DTS) services to Americans located throughout the world, says the release.