TEE-COMM LOOKING FOR AGENCY FOR DTH SERVICE
By Adnews Staff
Tee-Comm Electronics of Milton, Ont. is hoping to launch its direct-to-home satellite service by the end of the year and will begin looking for an agency to promote it in about a month, chief financial officer Jim Wilkinson told Adnews last week. The company has filed an application with the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission to launch the service. It is expecting a decision within five months and will begin operating within 30 days of being granted the license. Tee-Comm plans on using U.S. satellite space on the U.S. AT&T satellite, which already feeds Tee-Comm's U.S. DTH service. Initially there will be 25 channels available, plus 30 audio channels and a number of pay-per-view channels. Tee-Comm owns 19% of ExpressVu Inc. of Mississauga, Ont., the first Canadian DTH company to receive CRTC approval. If Tee-Comm receives a license, it will pull out of ExpressVu. ExpressVu has yet to launch a DTH service. It has been plagued by technological problems and an unexpected shortage of satellite space which has created problems for the entire industry. ExpressVu is also partly owned by BCE Inc. and Canadian Satellite Communications, both of Toronto and WIC Western International Communications of Vancouver.