France Telecom recently launched its Telecom 2A satellite as the initial stage of its second generation satellite programme. As well as certain military functions, the new satellites will provide high-definition television services, initially during the Winter Olympic Games in Albertville, France, for which it will transmit programming in high definition signals to 50 sites in Europe. Telecom 2A was put into space by the Ariane IV rocket on December 16 and will replace Telecom 1A which has now reached the end of its life, having been launched in August 1984. Telecom 2B will be launched in May while a third satellite, Telecom 2C, will be delivered in September, but kept in reserve on the ground. The new generation of satellites, sourced from Matra Marconi Space SA and Alcatel Espace SA, have an expected life span of 10 years, three years longer than their predecessors, and are also more powerful having 26 repeaters, compared with 12. The project has been jointly financed by France Telecom, which paid 60% of the $1,040m cost, and the Delegation Generale pour l’Armement (the procurement agency for the French Ministry of Defence) which paid the balance. But the initiative comes at a time when European high-definition television continues to be delayed amidst a period of great confusion. Faced with opposition from Great Britain and Luxembourg, the Commission of European Communities is going to propose the imposition of the D2 Mac standard on satellite television operators by January 1, 1995, but which it hopes to have in place in 1993. In France, differences between the European Commission, and the industry itself, have come to light causing hours of fun for the industry. Andre Rousselet, president of French cable TV provider Canal Plus, declared at the end of October that he wanted to broadcast his programmes using the French standard, Secam, on Telecom 2 and no longer on D2 Mac, as he had affirmed a few months earlier. An expert from France Telecom said later, it’s a harsh blow for D2 Mac, at a time when Europeans are finally ready to produce high definition transmissions.
