Noah Samara wants to take radio to remote African villages where children ride on wooden bikes and roads don't even exist. And he wants to do it via satellite.
On Thursday, the Ethiopian lawyer's vision of bringing about a radio revolution in the Third World took a step closer to reality with new deals announced to sign up four African and Middle Eastern stations to start digital audio broadcasts.
Samara's Washington-based WorldSpace Corp. will use satellite technology to transmit digital radio signals to advanced handheld receivers that it plans to sell for US$200 each.
The Western world may be suffering from an information glut, but for millions of illiterate people in Africa's traditionally oral society, radio is the only medium for information. That is one commodity Samara is hoping to cash in on.
"In Africa, information is scarce. So our project makes great business sense. I can make a lot of money and do a lot of good," the WorldSpace founder, chairman, and chief executive officer said in an interview.
He cited the example of Rwanda, where extremists used radio broadcasts to exhort Hutus to kill Tutsis during the 1994 genocide.
"If a state radio station contributed to the genocide in Rwanda, imagine what a digital and peaceful radio station could do to counter it," said Samara.
Many radio stations in Africa and the Third World are state-controlled and reflect only the views of the rulers. Samara says new technology will enable a plurality of views to be broadcast.
"We will be providing services directly to the people," he said, when asked if his broadcasts will bypass governments.
Samara expects the digital radios to be available to the retail market early in 1999.
He recognizes the weakest link in his ambitious project -- how to sell state-of-the-art digital radios to people at a price equal to their annual incomes.
"Our main challenge will be getting the receivers to people who are starving for information," said Samara.
The son of a former diplomat, Samara said he would initially target middle-class listeners who can afford the radios. Once the market begins to expand and more sets are produced, Samara hopes, the price of the receivers will come down.
Africans will potentially be able to receive the signals when AfriStar, the first of three satellites WorldSpace is planning to launch for the developing world, is launched in October.
The broadcasts will include programs on health, education, women's issues, news, and music and story channels for children, as well as relief information for humanitarian emergencies.
The company plans to invest $1.5 billion in the project over the next three years, and to make money by leasing capacity to Western and regional broadcasters, sharing advertising revenues and selling information services.
Samara said the firm had a target of 8 million listeners with its receivers within the next three years, in order to make a profit.
