WASHINGTON--Even as the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) took its first steps toward bringing digital, satellite radio to the United States, a Black entrepreneur launched the world�s first satellite radio service Oct. 19, transmitting a wide variety of multi-lingual programming across the entire African continent.

"This is truly an historic day in broadcasting," Noah A. Samara, chairman and CEO of WorldSpace, told reporters at a press conference, prior to a gala ceremony which inaugurated his corporation�s "AfriStar" service based in Johannesburg, South Africa. "For 10 years we�ve worked towards this day. For the first time, crystal-clear radio programming is being heard in areas that until now have been underserved by traditional radio sources."

AfriStar will supply more than 25 channels of news, music, entertainment and educational programming, capable of being heard on special satellite radio receivers anywhere on the continent. Each of three beams on the solar-powered satellite, which was launched into stationary-earth-orbit in 1997, will cover nearly 9 million square miles, and together will cover all of Africa and the Middle East.

AfriStar programming will include CNN International, Bloomberg L.P., or the best of African regional on-air broadcasting, including: South Africa�s Kosmos Digital, the Kenya Broadcasting Co., Egyptian Radio and Television, Media 1 of Casablanca, Radio Sud of Dakar. Programs are broadcast in English, Arabic, French, and even Afrikaans, the language of South Africa�s former white rulers.

In addition, from its own state-of-the-art studios in Washington and London, WorldSpace has created its own original programming, from global dance music, and contemporary pop, to modern rock, as well as spoken word programming for children and adults.

"We�ve gone from the age of poverty of ideas, to a wealth of information," Mr. Samara told reporters in response to a question from The Final Call. "We�re delighted with the diversity of broadcasters that we have been able to offer our listeners. This validates our long held belief that a critical need exists for high quality programming that reaches a much wider geographic audience than with today�s conventional analog radio systems.

"Ultimately, our programming partners may be able to reach as many as one billion people through our broadcast system," Mr. Samara said. "I am pleased by the diversity of the commercial broadcasters who committed to the WorldSpace system from day one. Discussions are underway with numerous other broadcasters that will increase the number of channels using AfriStar."

WorldSpace is a U.S. based company that sees a huge untapped market for satellite digital radio service in the developing world, Mr. Samara said. The AsiaStar satellite is scheduled for launch next February, to be followed by AmeriStar which will reach listeners in Latin America and the Caribbean later in the year 2000.

Listeners must use special radios, which now cost about $200 each, to receive the WorldSpace signal. The radios are manufactured by Hitachi, JVC, Panasonic, and Sanyo. More than 30,000 receivers have already been sold. Mr. Samara predicts that as demand for and the supply of radios increases, the prices will fall.

With the special receivers, which are about the size of a "boom-box" CD-player, the signal can be received anywhere in Africa, but the company will concentrate its sales and distribution efforts in phases. The first target is South Africa.

Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and Senegal will be among the first countries targeted this year, to be followed by Cote d�Ivoire, Egypt and Morocco shortly thereafter.

The radio receivers feature flat antennas and use tiny chipsets that consist of two micro-integrated circuits that process satellite transmissions. The receivers can be powered by direct electrical connection or by battery.

WorldSpace also holds a 10 percent stake in the Freeplay Energy Holdings Ltd., which makes wind-up radio technology. Research is ongoing for this technology as well as for solar power in order to permit radio reception of the AfriStar signal in the remotest areas of the continent which are not connected to an electric power grid.

The around-the-clock AfriStar operation will utilize WorldSpace�s full broadcasting range, from static-free AM-quality for talk shows, to the equivalent of CD-stereo for music and entertainment.

Mr. Samara founded WorldSpace in 1990. Even before his first broadcast, he said, his company has spent nearly $1 billion. For his pioneering work in bringing satellite radio service to Africa, Mr. Samara received the 1997 Innovation Trophy from Africa International magazine.