The Pie in the Sky
The huge telecommunication satellites of the 80s will be able to hitch their way into space on board the US Shuttle or Europe's Ariane, where they will hang in a glittering circle high above the Equator.
Kieran Prendiville predicts every roof, car park and garden may soon sport its own dish-aerial which picks signals out of the sky and converts them into new and specialised business services and television programmes from all over Europe.
Michael Rodd talks to the manufacturers and discovers that although Britain is ahead of the game in building satellites, businessmen are denied access to the potentially vast revenues from running them-unless the law is changed. Meanwhile the French are trying to get a head-start with a policy of huge investment in La Telematique.
Research SHEILA HAYMAN
Studio director JOHN GORMAN
Executive producer JONATHAN CRANE Producer LYN GAMBLES