Indian movies have always been a big draw in the former Soviet Union as well as the central Asian republics. it might not be too long before one of those republics - Kazakstan - starts beaming soaps into television rooms through DTH telecast.

Intelsat announced today that it has signed a 10-year contract with Katelco, the authorized provider of direct-to-home (DTH) services in Kazakhstan, to deliver television and high-speed Internet services to households and businesses throughout the country.

In addition to the six channels of local video programming customers have been able to view previously, the Intelsat capacity gives them new access to between 10 and 20 pay-TV channels, Internet, distance education, pay-per-view, corporate TV and satellite cable stations, an official release states.

"Intelsat has always been very proud of its ability to reach people wherever they are in the world, and provide them with the broad range of services they require," said John Stanton, president, Intelsat Global Sales & Marketing Ltd. "We are pleased that Katelco will use Intelsat capacity to bring the full benefits of multi-channel TV entertainment to Kazakhstan's residents."

These new DTH services are being provided on the Intelsat 904 satellite at 60'E, which became operational on 27 March.

"In addition to being able to provide us with extremely high reliability," added Vladamir Kushnir, President of Katelco, "Intelsat was flexible enough to focus strong Ku-band capacity over Kazakhstan to quickly and easily respond to our exact requirements for the DTH service." .