No indications as to exactly how much money he is ploughing into the venture, but Rupert Murdoch has caught the digital super-highway bug. In a prepared speech he said that News Corp is working with British Telecommunications Plc and its 60%-owned UK cellular operator Cellnet Mobile Communications Ltd to explore the issues involved in building a network that would combine satellite technology with telephone networks, allowing consumers to access communications, TV shows, movies, sporting events and information services as simply as possible. Neither BT or Cellnet spokesmen were aware of any details. In the same speech the former Australian said that his News Corp subsidiary – which specialises in access control and encryption – has signed agreements with National Transcommunications Ltd and ComStream Corp to co-operative on development of what will be the common digital satellite system throughout Europe, Asia and the Americas. Again details were not forthcoming, however the system looks essentially the same as an initiative announced in May 1992 (CI No 1,915) when News Datacom and ComStream teamed up with AT&T Co to offer technology and equipment to companies to help them deliver new entertainment sources – including pay-per-view and video-on-demand services. AT&T was to bring video compression to the party, but it looks as if it has been ousted in favour of National Transcommunications’ real-time, broadcast-quality MPEG compression system (CI No 2,230). It is a significant win for the ex-Independent Broadcasting Authority engineers who have been looking for international markets for their offering. And in the US, News Corp is buying the fifth largest on-line service in the country and plans to put out an electronic version of TV Guide. Terms for the acquisition of the target, Delphi Internet Services Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts, were not disclosed. The company is described as the largest provider of Internet access to home personal computer users. Murdoch has far more ambitious plans for the company, saying that he wants to make it the interactive source of media from his worldwide empire of magazines, newspapers and television programs. Delphi’s leading technology will enhance the News Corp’s role in the rapidly evolving worldwide interactive media marketplace, he said, promising an electronic newspaper unlike any other. Delphi currently employs 300 on-line moderators to help its customers to browse through the databases on Internet.
