News Room

For immediate release

GE Americom and CBS Announce Transponder Agreement for the Delivery of Satellite News Gathering Services

PRINCETON, NJ, July 13, 1998 GE American Communications, Inc. (GE Americom), a subsidiary of GE Capital Services, announced today that CBS Newspath will be among the first clients to transmit news programming on GE-5, a new satellite scheduled to be operational later this year.

In accordance with the multi-year service agreement signed with CBS Inc., a GE Americom GE-5 Ku-band transponder will provide digitized Satellite News Gathering (SNG) capacity for use by CBS Newspath clients operating from fixed and mobile locations throughout North America. This capacity, and additional occasional space segment set aside on GE-5 for full-time transponder customers, will help provide CBS Newspath the flexibility it requires in providing CBS affiliates, CBS News broadcasts and CBS News overseas partners immediate coverage of events as they happen.

"We are very pleased that CBS Newspath, which operates the worlds largest SNG system, has chosen our GE-5 as the digital transmission platform for the timely delivery and distribution of one of its most enduring hallmarks the news," said Andreas Georghiou, Senior Vice President, Global Satellite Services, GE Americom.

"Were happy we have been able to work with GE Americom to add this important new capacity to our SNG transponder inventory. This acquisition will enable us to serve even more affiliates and clients overseas as they cover live events in the United States," said John Frazee, Vice President, News Services, CBS News. "Our SNG system has grown to the point that, at peak times, demand has outpaced our capacity. This GE-5 transponder will help fill our clients needs. It will also accelerate our conversion to digital SNG."

GE-5 will be launched and operational in the fourth quarter with 16 Ku-band transponders each providing 54 MHz of bandwidth capacity. This bandwidth configuration allows customers to simultaneously carry two analog signals or a combination of analog and digital channels on the one transponder. To insure satellite transponder availability during peak demand periods, a dedicated pool of occasional GE-5 transponders will be available to news customers. Occasional service booking and satellite access times are fully and rapidly facilitated by GE Americoms 24-hour booking center. Most news customers also use Americoms SkySwitchÔ SNG service which connects customers with simultaneous voice and video communications to and from their SNG vehicles.

Additional GE-5 customers will expand their digital business television services and distribution of wideband data services that enhance business use of the Internet, intranets and e-commerce applications. Satellites can be employed to quickly, reliably and securely transfer large quantities of Internet-protocol (IP) data. GE-5 reflects GE Americoms belief that satellites will play a crucial and growing role in cost-effectively meeting the high-speed broadband data distribution needs of U.S. based businesses and organizations.

With over 20 years of experience, GE Americom is known as a pioneer in satellite distribution of television entertainment programming. One of the worlds largest satellite operators, GE Americom currently operates eleven satellites providing satellite-based solutions for North America. In Europe, GE-1E provides high-powered Ku-band service for European and Middle East television markets. In South America, GE Americom is an equity investor in the NahuelSAt satellite system. With the launch of an Asian satellite next year, 80% of the worlds population will have satellite capacity available through GE Americom. Some of GE Americoms key international customers include Viacom, Time Warner/Turner, Discovery, NBC, NHK, Disney, and Deutsche Welle. Through its subsidiary GE Spacenet, GE Americom provides global network solutions in over 40 countries.

GE Capital Services, with assets of over US$250 billion, is a global, diversified financial services company with 28 specialized businesses. A wholly-owned subsidiary of General Electric Company, GE Capital Services, based in Stamford, CT., provides equipment management, mid-market and specialized financing, specialty insurance and a variety of consumer services, such as car leasing, home mortgages and credit cards, to businesses and individuals around the world. GE is a diversified manufacturing, technology and services company with operations worldwide.

Contact: Monica Morgan
609-987-4143

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