According to government officials, the Ale-Teledis network was chosen because it has around 300,000 subscribers and a fair cross-section of Belgium's cable TV customers. To manage the pilot project, the three companies have teamed up with the state government to create a new joint venture company, called Open Networks ALE.

Announcing the pilot project, Andre de Smet, Philips Professional Systems' chief executive, said that the service will be known as "On Air" to consumers. The aim of the pilot project, he told journalists, is to assess the viability of digital multimedia services in the real consumer environment. "An operational and profitable network has to be set up in which all players, consumers, equipment producers, and operators have to find added value," he said.

Newsbytes notes that more than 90 per cent of homes in Belgium have cable TV, mainly because of the cosmopolitan nature of the country. Having cable allows consumers to watch programs from around Europe, which can be picked by up by cable TV companies using long-range antenna.

The initial stage of the pilot project will involve around 200 households being offered the digital TV decoders and their viewing patterns analyzed. If all goes well, the service will be offered to all of Ale-Teledisc subscribers in Liege.

(Sylvia Dennis/19960621/PRess & Reader Contact: Philips Professional Systems, +32-41-640062)