11-27-96
CableLabs and CCTA Announce Line Up for CableNet ‘96
Com21 Announces Two New Trial Locations
NBTel Launches Cable Modem Service
Telecom Finland Launches Cable Modem Service
Phasecom Announces Availability of Speed Demon Cable Modem
Harmonic Lightwaves Introduces Return Path Receiver and Element Management System
GTE to Launch Cable Modem Service and MainStreet in Clearwater, Florida
C-Cor to Provide Charter with RF and Optical Equipment
@Home Chooses NY Times, USA Today and Wired as Media Content Providers
CSI and Advanced Modular Solutions Announce Partnership
CableLabs and CCTA Announce Line Up for CableNet ‘96
It’s about time to double check your stockpile of business cards. The ‘96 Western Show in Anaheim, California is less than two weeks away. Last year, the show focused on cable modem vendors and their soon to be developed products. This year promises to be similar.
Once again, the show will feature CableNET, a technology demonstration area that puts most of the cable industry’s data communications over cable related vendors side by side. The following is a list of this year’s CableNET participants and a brief description of the technology that will be demonstrated:
@Home - end to end network solution for high speed Internet access
ADC - standard and enhanced telephony services, analog and digital video services and a wide range of high speed data delivery solutions
Bay Networks - data routers and software management
CableData - cable modem interface with a web page for business office transactions
Com21/3Com - ATM based high speed data solutions and interactive multimedia applications
Convergence - headend computer solution
First Pacific Networks - high speed data solution and telephony
NextLevel - dual mode 256/64 QAM MPEG II digital set top system
Hayes - one way cable modem
Hewlett Packard - high speed data solution and a network management system
Headend in the Sky (HITS) - digitally compressed video
Harmonic Lightwaves - network management system
Integration Technologies, Objective Systems Integrators, AM Communications - network management system
Intel - network management system
Jones CyberSolutions - customer management system
Bay Networks (formerly LANcity) - high speed data solution, network management and interactive multimedia content
Lucent Technologies - compressed packet voice & music system and a broadband delivery system
Microsoft - servers and client software
Motorola - high speed data solution and telephony
NEC America - high speed data solution and multimedia video services
Network Computer - NC Smartcard
Phasecom - high speed data solution, telephony and multimedia applications
Power TV - OS, user interface, and a set top with web browser used with S-A’s set top box
Racal Data Group - integration of video and telephony with high speed data services
Superior Electronics Group - network management
SkyConnect/DEC - cable digital advertising insertion network management software
Terayon - high speed data solution
Thomson Sun Interactive, LLC - set top based web browser
VideoActive Technologies Corp - NVOD
Worldgate Communications - set top based web browser
Your Choice TV - PPV featuring time shifted programming choices
Zenith Electronics - high speed data solution
On December 11, CableNET will launch an accompanying web site for this demonstration. The site will probably be found at or be accessible from http://www.cablenet.org
Western Show
http://www.cct-assn.org/html/westshow.htm
Com21 Announces Two New Trial Locations
Com21 Announced that Prime Cable of Las Vegas, Nevada and Cablecom of Zurich, Switzerland will be deploying Com21cable modems for testing purposes. Though the Viacom/TCI system in Palo Alto, California has been testing Com21’s modems for several months, the introduction of the new trial locations marks a significant boost in the company’s status in the industry.
Both Prime Cable and CableCom will initially deploy 50 cable modems. If the trials prove to be successful, the operators plan to launch commercial services in 1997.
Com21
http://www.com21.com
NBTel Launches Cable Modem Service
NBTel has announced the launching of “Vibe”, their commercial high speed data service. Vibe is currently being offered to 4,300 homes in Kennebecasis Valley, near St. John, New Brunswick.
Currently, Vibe offers five service areas including electronic news with content provided by the local newspaper, an interactive game service, a phone store, a virtual school and a choice of two different Internet services. The phone store allows customers to access and work interactively with their telephone account.
Vibe is offered over NBTel’s VideoActive Network, which is an ATM based HFC network developed by Nortel. The VideoActive Network utilizes Nortel’s ATM switch known as Magellan Concorde. The network also features Nortel’s ONU-1CX fiber nodes that currently are supporting 80 homes. When amps are added to the system, the nodes will support 250 homes.
Data for the network is handled through a high-split fiber/coax implementation, using the bandwidth above 550 Mhz for both the downstream and return path. In NBTel’s network, the return path is around 800 Mhz.
Though the announcement did not specifically mention the cable modem, it did indicate that the network would support 20Mbps upstream and downstream. Strangely, the announcement passed on the opportunity to exaggerate throughput speeds and claimed that the network is expected to deliver througput around 4Mbps. Since a 20Mbps symmetrical cable modem from Nortel would be an eye-opener, look for the Broadband Bob Report to follow-up on the story and present further modem information within the next issue of this report.
Pricing for the Vibe service has been structured for both residential and business use.
For residential use, there will be an initial service connection fee of $56, with a fee of $28 for each additional service jack. The Ethernet card, which is market valued at around $110 must be obtained by the customer from a computer dealer. The Vibe client software is available for $29.95 for Windows 95 users and for $99.95 those still using Windows 3.1. Access service will be $19.95 per month and each additional IP will run $9.95 per month.
For buiness use, Vibe will be $49.95 for access. The Vibe buiness LAN package will cost $79.95 per month and will offer additional IP’s for $19.95 per month.
Nortel
http://www.nortel.com
Telecom Finland Launches Cable Modem Service
Telecom Finland has launched cable modem service in Lappeenranta, Finland, which is
123 miles east of Helsinki. The service utilizes Zenith modems nd linked via ATM to
a HP server.
The service including rental of the cable modem will run $79 per month.
Telecom Finland plans to expand the service in 1997. The expansion includes a switch from Zenith to Motorola’s CyberSURFR cable modem.
Telecom Finland
http://www.tfi.net
Phasecom Announces Availability of Speed Demon Cable Modem
Phasecom announced the availability of their cable modem known as
Speed Demon. The frequency agile cable modem supports data rates
up to 30Mbps downstream and up to 2.56 Mbps upstream. Speed Demon
uses 64QAM for downstream modulation and QPSK for the upstream.
The Speed Demon Network architecture includes SpeedDemon 2001, a router,
and cable modems. SpeedDemon 2201 is a headend controller consisting of
a RF module, a mod/demod, and a channel controller module. At minimum
configuration, SpeedDemon can support up to 1000 modems on the network.
Additional modules can be added to support scaleability of the network to
provide service to many more subscribers.
The system is scheduled for trial use in the first quarter of 1997.
Phasecom
http://www.speed-demon.com
Harmonic Lightwaves Introduces Return Path Receiver and Element Mgmt System
Harmonic Lightwaves has introduced a new return path receiver module known as
RPR 2210, which contains 20 receivers in only three rack units of space. When
deployed in redundant network apps, the RPR enables the replacement of cards without
download time. The product mounts in Harmonic’s HTR 2000D chassis enabling
two complete and independent RPR’s on one board.
Users may also take advanlittlecybere of RPR 2210’s built in flexibility, which allows the user
to switch the RPR to serve as either a primary or backup unit. The unit can be set so
that it switches from primary to backup based if a designated optical level is reached.
The RPR2210 is now shipping and volume orders for the unit have been received by
MSOs such as TCI, Cox and Continental Cablevision.
In addition to the return path receiver, Harmonic also announced the availability of
an SNMP compatible element management system known as NETWatch. NetWatch
includes transponders, add-in devices for alarm monitoring and control, AC power
supplies, software upgrades to support monitoring of the transport layer and much
more.
Harmonic Lightwaves will begin volume shipments of NETWatch in December of 1996.
Harmonic Lightwaves
http://www.businesswire.com/cnn/hlit.htm
GTE to Launch Cable Modem Service and MainStreet in Clearwater, Florida
GTE Media Ventures has announced that it will launch cable modem services
and MainStreet, an interactive television service to the Clearwater, Florida
community. The Internet access service will include the use of Zenith’s cable modem.
GTE is hoping the new services will draw subscribers from a Time Warner system
that competes with GTE for cable televsion services in the same market.
GTE plans to expand cable modem services in 1997 to systems in St. Petersburg, FL,
Pinellas County, FL, and Thousand Oaks, California
GTE Cable Modem Service
http://www.gtecablemodem.com
C-Cor to Provide Charter with RF and Optical Equipment
C-Cor has announced that they will supply RF and optical
equipment to Charter Communications for the upgrade
of three Charter systems in Alabama. The equipment which
will be used in the communities of Guntersville, Albertsville,
and Arab includes FlexNode optical nodes, FlexNet trunks,
bridgers and line extenders. The 1047 mile upgrade to
hybrid fiber/coax networks is expected to be completed in
1997.
In addition to equipment, C-Cor will also be providing
product training, technical services and support.
C-Cor
http://www.c-cor.com
@Home Choose NY Times, USA Today, and Wired as Media Content Providers
@Home announced that the NY Times, USA Today and Wired would be
among the media development partners to provide content for the @Home
service.
@Home
http://www.home.net
CSI and Advanced Modular Solutions Announce Partnership
Convergence Systems and Advanced Modular Solutions have
created a partnership to sell complete Internet and data
management solutions for two way capable cable systems.
Convergence Systems
http://www.convergence.com
© Copyright 2000 Gecko Research & Publishing
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