France Telecom to run internet service over Inmarsat

NEWS Jean Louis Charlety, director of mobile and radiocommunications at France Telecom, said the company is going to offer a 64kb service to its customers. Inmarsat is expected to offer up to 512kb by 2005, though users can expect speeds of 144kb by next year. France Telecom expects to make FF620m (£58m) from its internet services in the upcoming year - an increase of 21 per cent on 1999 figures. A spokesman for Inmarsat said: "France Telecom is one of our bigger satellite users and it is very keen to promote it. Inmarsat does well in areas where there is not traditional cellular or fibre-optic equivalent, especially in remote parts of the world and since France Telecom has a lot of interests in Africa it is a good area for us to be in."