Columbia Communications Corp. receives FCC authority to provide a full range of domestic services.WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 7, 1994--The Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. has granted special temporary authority to Columbia Communications Corp. enabling the company to offer full domestic services, either separate from, or in conjunction with, the international services it now provides. The COLUMBIA/TDRSS International Satellite System consists of two satellites, one each over the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans, with "footprints" that overlap, providing coverage of the entire continent of North America, in addition to Europe and the Pacific Rim. In granting Columbia's request, the Commission cited the current shortage of domestic C-Band transponder A receiver/transmitter on a communications satellite. It receives a microwave signal from earth (uplink), amplifies it and retransmits it back to earth at a different frequency (downlink). A satellite has several transponders. capacity, which has been exacerbated by the recent launch failure of AT&T's TELSTAR 402 domestic satellite. Capital Cities/ABC, CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. , NBC NBC in full National Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. commercial broadcasting company. It was formed in 1926 by RCA Corp., General Electric Co. (GE), and Westinghouse and was the first U.S. company to operate a broadcast network. and Turner Broadcasting filed letters with the FCC (1) (Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC, www.fcc.gov) The U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications including wire, cable, radio, TV and satellite. The FCC was created under the U.S. in support of Columbia, as did Global Access Telecommunications Services. Clifford Laughton, Columbia's chairman and chief executive officer, commented on the Commission's action, stating: "What this means, especially for the broadcasters, is that now, for little more than what is being paid for domestic service alone, they will get the Pacific Rim and all of Europe, in addition to domestic service. "At long last, a cost-effective means of creating a market for U.S. programming in both Asia and Europe is now available, while simultaneously serving the U.S. market with the same transponder capacity." Columbia Communications Corp. controls and operates the commercial C-Band payload on board two satellites in the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite A Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) is one of a network of communications satellites of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) used by NASA and other United States government agencies for communication to satellites or the International Space Station. System, which NASA NASA: see National Aeronautics and Space Administration. NASA in full National Aeronautics and Space Administration Independent U.S. uses to communicate with the space shuttle and other spacecraft. The COLUMBIA/TDRSS International Satellite System provides its customers single-system connectivity stretching from Hainan Island, PRC and the Philippines, north to Hong Kong, Taiwan, China, Japan, Korea and the Russian Far East Russian Far East, formerly Soviet Far East, federal district (1989 est. pop. 7,941,000), c.2,400,000 sq mi (6,216,000 sq km), encompassing the entire northeast coast of Asia and including the Sakha Republic, Maritime Territory (Primorsky Kray), , across the Pacific and throughout North America, crossing the Atlantic, and covering all of Europe, including Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean. Columbia Communications Corp. also provides a full range of voice, data and video services in addition to custom-tailored bandwidth applications. As a follow-on to its present services, the company has received conditional authorization from the Federal Communications Commission to construct, launch and operate an additional satellite in the Pacific Ocean Region. CONTACT: Columbia Communications Corp.
Kenneth Gross, 301/907-8800
Clifford Laughton, 808/523-8100
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