6/19/97
Japanese Operators Move Forward with Data and Telephony
Singapore Cable Vision Extends Order for CyberSURFR units
Fundy to Use Scientific Atlanta's Telco Return Cable Modem
Sun Country Cable Chooses Internet Ventures' PeRKinet Service
Microsoft Drops $1 Billion into Comcast
Telewest Awards CBIS with 5-Year Agreement
Jerry Conn to Distribute New Media Cable Modems
Stanford Telecom Introduces New ASIC chip
Anadigics Announces Its 860 MHz Chip-Set is MCNS Compliant
ECI Telecom To Supply Telenet with HFC Equipment
Adelphia to Provide Long Distance Services through IXC
Oceanic Cable to Launch Road Runner in Hawaii
Japanese Operators Move Forward with Data and Telephony
Following the aggressive leads of Titus and Jupiter, the Japanese cable
industry is quickly embracing data and telephony. With expensive local
telephone rates, cable operators are finding it extremely easy to build a
business case for two-way services. While the obstacles of high costs,
minimal fiber, and a poor infrastructure has slowed the industry, local and
national government support has made it possible for many operators to move
forward.
This month, many new trials have been announced including the introduction
of telephony and home security services via Minami-Tokyo Cable [MTC]. MTC
will be able to offer local telephone service at up to 80% less than rates
offered by NTT. Under a telephony plan orchestrated by Titus
Communications, 15 operators are currently testing and three more systems
will be added by the end of the year.
Tokyo Telecommunications Network has announced that they will be providing
integration services and high-speed backbone connectivity solutions for
Japanese cable operators. Currently, they are testing data over cable in
the Saitama Prefecture.
Japan Telecom is hoping to encourage operators to offer data by introducing
a national network to be known as the Open Data Network. The network will
compete with the Open Computer Network, NTT's similar national network.
Access to the Open Data Network will be priced lower than the US$325 month
fee charged by NTT for a 128 Kbps dedicated connection. Both networks,
will connect to Internet backbones, will not guarantee bandwidth to users.
Japan Telecom may not connect its network directly to the home, but hopes
to draw business from operators that wish to avoid NTT. Japan Telecom is
currently connecting Jyouhoku New Media, a Tokyo based operator.
Approximately 25% of Japan's 230 cable operators are testing two way
services. Some of the systems that have not been mentioned include Tokyu
Cablevision, Ueda Cablevision, CTY, New Media Yonezawa, Town TV Kanezawa
and Tokyo Cable Network.
Jupiter, Titus and Interactive Cable and Communications [ICC] are the first
MSOs to emerge in Japan, which averages 13,000 subscribers per system.
Jupiter, which claims 300,000 subscribers, is a joint venture between
Sumitomo and TCI. Titus is a joint venture between Time Warner, Itochu,
Toshiba, and US West. Titus currently has 15,000 subscribers. ICC, which
is a much smaller MSO is currently invested in Town TV Kanazawa, a joint
venture of Marubeni, Motorola's International Network Division, and Fuji Bank.
Japan Telecom
http://www.japan-telecom.co.jp
Singapore Cable Vision Extends Order for CyberSURFR Units
Singapore Cable Vision has signed an agreement with Motorola that extends
the operator's order of CyberSURFR cable modems to 2,200 units. The new
agreement also calls for 20 routers that are to be delivered over the next
12 months. The modems will be used in a beta test that will run through
the summer of 1998.
Cable Vision is Singapore's only cable operator. The network passes
550,000 homes [440,000 HFC] and claims 55,000 subscribers.
In a separate announcement, Motorola will be providing equipment to support
2,000 cable telephony lines for Essar Commvision in the Punjab State in
India. The agreement also calls for the company to assist in upgrading the
plant to HFC and integrating data and telephony.
Singapore Cable
http://www.scv.com.sg
Motorola
http://www.mot.com/multimedia/
Fundy to Use Scientific Atlanta's Telco Return Cable Modem
Fundy Communications has announced that its New Brunswick system will
deploy Scientific Atlanta's telco return cable modem known as
DataXcellerator. Scientific Atlanta will provide the operator with headend
equipment, installation, support, and 2,500 modems.
Initially, the service will be launched in Moncton, eventually expanding to
Fredericton and Saint John. The DataXcellerator units will be sold for
C$299 in local retail stores. The price will include installation, an
Ethernet card, the cable modem and one free month of connectivity.
Fundy's move to data comes after a C$80 million investment in an extensive
fiber optic network that will soon connect all of the communities in New
Brunswick.
Fundy Communications
http://www.telecom.fundy.ca
Scientific Atlanta
http://www.sciatl.com
Sun Country Cable Chooses Internet Ventures' PeRKinet Service
Sun Country Cable [SCC] has announced that the MSO will use Internet
Ventures' [IV] PeRKinet service for several of its systems. Systems in
Deer Park, Washington and Los Altos Hills, California are first on the
list, with integration expected to get underway before July 1.
The PeRKinet residential offering provides a telco return network that
supports up to 4000 users per channel with downstream data rate support up
to 256 Kbps. Commercial users receive up to 10 Mbps. Residential
subscribers will pay $56.90 per month and commercial users will be taken at
$112 per month. Users may reduce their monthly fee by $17 by choosing to
purchase their cable modem at a cost of $350.
There is also a one-time installation fee of $99.
From a consumer perspective, compared with other Internet access over cable
services, PeRKinet provides the lowest value of service for the money. If
the service is able to achieve decent penetration rates, it may indicate
that operators are under-valuing data services. However, if the operator
is going to survive the emergence of competitive technologies, the model
must still offer some revenue if the subscriber costs have to be reduced.
In a separate announcement, Internet Ventures acquired ComputorLink, a
regional computer and technology publication that serves the Spokane area.
IV plans to use the publication to promote its services. Within the next 4
months, IV will publish an edition for the Ventura, California area, which
is home to Avenue Cable TV, the system that first launched the PeRKinet
service.
Internet Ventures
http://www.perki.net
Microsoft Drops $1 Billion into Comcast
Last Monday, Microsoft announced the company would make a $1 billion
investment in Comcast, claiming an approximate 11% share in the MSO. The
investment was interpreted as an endorsement of the data over cable
industry and has already boosted interest in the industry from Wall St.
Furthermore, the announcement has cable modem vendors and integrators
fumbling through rolodexes looking for their Comcast contacts.
There has been little talk about a possible underlying interest of
Microsoft to own a portion of the Philadelphia 76ers. Comcast owns and
operates the basketball franchise, as well as other sports teams.
Comcast
http://www.comcast.com
Microsoft
http://www.microsoft.com
Telewest Awards CBIS with 5-Year Agreement
Telewest has signed a 5-year, US$35 million agreement with CBIS that calls
for the billing and subscriber management software company to provide its
Integrated Communications Operations Management System [ICOMS] to the
British cable operator. The system will be used in 7 Telewest systems for
subscriber and telephony billing management.
Telewest
http://www.telewest.co.uk
Cincinnati Bell Information Systems
http://www.cbis.com
Jerry Conn to Distribute New Media Cable Modems
New Media has announced that it has signed a co-marketing agreement with
Jerry Conn Associates. The Pennsylvania based reseller will distribute New
Media's CyberCity data over cable system that features two telco return
cable modem products.
Jerry Conn Associates
http://www.jerryconn.com
New Media Communication
http://www.nmcfast.com
Stanford Telecom Introduces New ASIC chip
Stanford Telecom has introduced a new MCNS-compliant ASIC chip known as the
STEL-2176. Prototypes will be completed by August. Volume pricing is
expected to be under $30.
The chip features:
integrated upstream and downstream clock plans
reception of 16, 64, and 256 QAM signals
integrated A/D converter
analog, fast digital AGC, and digital carrier tracking
doesn't require an analog carrier tracking loop
symbol tracking
high-speed equalizer
on-board programmable dual mode Annex A & B FEC
receives QPSK or 16 QAM PSK modulated signals
compliant with MCNS, MPEG2, IEEE 802.14, DAVIC and DVB standards
output frequency range of 5-65 MHz
integrated digital-to-analog converter
compatible with STEL-9257 burst demodulator & non-proprietary headend
equipment
covers 5Mbaud - 7Mbaud for either European or US applications
on-board programmable Reed-Solomon encoder
Stanford Telecom
http://www.stelhq.com
Anadigics Announces that Its 860 MHz Chip-Set is MCNS Compliant
Anadigics announced that its 860 MHz CATV GaAs MMIC chip set is MCNS
compliant. Versions of the chip-set are being used in cable modems
manufactured by Intel, Bay, 3Com and Motorola.
The chip-set is available in a modified flatpack 16-lead SOIC plastic package.
Anadigics
http://www.anadigics.com
ECI Telecom To Supply Telenet with HFC Equipment
ECI Telecom has announced that it has signed a multi-year, $100 million
agreement with Telenet, that calls for the manufacturer to supply the
Belgium-based Telenet with networking equipment including HFC, telephony
and data products. Many of the products to be provided are a part of ECI's
Multigate System, which is a network designed and developed by Telegate.
Data products provided by ECI will include Terayon's TeraPro data over
cable network.
ECI Telecom
http://www.ecitele.com
Telegate
http://www.telegate.co.il
Terayon
http://www.terayon.com
Adelphia to Provide Long Distance Services Through IXC
Adelphia Communications has announced that the company has signed a 3-year,
multi-million contract with IXC Communications that will provide the MSO
with long distance connectivity. Though Adelphia has not publicly
announced plans to offer cable telephony service, it has several 2way
enabled systems that currently provide data services.
Adelphia Communications
http://www.adelphia.net
IXC Communications
http://www.ixc-comm.net
Oceanic Cable to Launch Road Runner in Hawaii
Time Warner has announced that Oceanic Cable, its Oahu, Hawaii system, will
be launching Road Runner in Q4 of '97. The service will feature Microsoft
software, including a customized Explorer browser and the Microsoft
Commercial Internet System [MCIS]. Digital will be the systems integrator.
The MCIS software, which operates on the Windows NT platform, consists of
content replication, personalization, mail, news, chat, membership and
locator services. Digital will install the software, the billing system
interface and systems admin software. Oceanic Cable will be the first Time
Warner system to be subject to the DEC/Microsoft software and integration
package.
Oceanic Cable
http://www.oceanic.com
Road Runner
http://www.rdrun.com
Microsoft Commercial Internet System
http://www.backoffice.microsoft.com/Partners/MCIS_Partners.asp
Digital
http://www.digital.com
© Copyright 2000 Gecko Research & Publishing
The Broadband Bob Report is a weekly take of the latest news regarding data over cable, 2-way HFC networks and related applications and services.
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