Lost slot

Satellite operator Eutelsat was dealt a blow last month by the International
Telecommunications Union in Geneva. The ITU told the Paris-based company that it
cannot use the orbital slot at 29 degrees East, in part because it will
interfere with British company BSkyB’s digital television broadcasts from a
satellite at 28.2 degrees East. This satellite is owned by a competitor of
Eutelsat, Astra. Eutelsat laid claim to the slot in 1989 and had announced a
deal to build the satellite a week before the ITU’s decision.