Free satellite TV's a hit in a freer Iraq

摘要

Paris ― Since the overthrow of the Saddam Hussein regime last April, sales of digital satellite decoders to Iraq have been explosive. The once-information-starved populace now has access to signals from dozens of satellite channels in the Middle East, including Al Iraqiyah, a pro-American channel started by occupation forces, and Al-Jazeera, the Arab news network. There are no official stats, but STMicroelectronics says it sold more than 2.5 million chips between April and December to distributors that said they were building digital satellite decoders for shipment to Iraq.