StarTimes, the Chinese media company, has completed the second phase of its Uganda satellite TV project and has now reached an extra 400 villages in the country. The pay-TV system will broadcast educational programming as well as conventional channels.

Song Wei, Project Director at StarTimes, said connecting villages is set to start this month and will end before December 25th. He added that homes, public places, schools and offices will be connected with satellite television sets.

The first phase of the project saw more than 500 villages and an estimated 500,000 people. As part of the first phase, StarTimes trained local technicians and engineers to help with installation and distribution.

The StarTimes project is a result of the resolutions of the 2015 summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held in Johannesburg, South Africa, in which the Chinese government pledged to provide satellite TV in 10,000 African villages.