The TASS news agency has breached the previously exclusive agreement between the former USSR (now Russian) Ministry of Post & Telecommunications and IDB Communications Corp by marketing a video communications service out of Moscow via Intelsat. TASS has installed a 11.3 metre satellite antenna in co-operation with the US company Vertex Communications Inc. Dennis Mallon, vice-president of commercial services at IDB International says his company always expected competition and that it was not unduly concerned. Satellite links from within Moscow city using C Band suffer from microwave interference and those using Ku band are unusable in bad weather. IDB operates its link via Bear Lake, 175 miles north-east of Moscow, which keeps it clear of interference. The company’s doubts appear to have been well founded. The British Independent Television News company, ITN, used the new service for a live broadcast in early January, and it broke down in mid-transmission.
