TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

Hughes’ DirecTv Reportedly Set for Japan: Hughes Electronics Corp. plans to start a 100-channel version of its DirecTv satellite-to-home broadcast system in Japan in a venture with three Japanese companies, Japanese media reports said. Hughes and its partners, including a unit of Mitsubishi Corp., could launch the new service as early as 1996, Nihon Keizai reported. Hughes spokesman Jeffrey Torkelson declined comment on the reports’ details, but said “we are actively looking at bringing DirecTv to Japan and the rest of Asia.” Hughes, a Los Angeles-based unit of General Motors Corp., launched DirecTv in the United States a year ago and has announced plans to expand the service to Latin America.