CED articles from November 2002

CED archives from November 2002

The one that got away. (in perspective).(EchoStar-DirecTV merger blocked)
November 1, 2002... Charlie Ergen, the scrappy chief of EchoStar, never backs down from a fight. Like a real-life Steven Seagal, Charlie's always been willing to butt heads with virtually anyone-no matter how powerful-in an attempt to get him and his customers a...

Gemstar nixes Diva deal. (upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... The fate of bankrupt video-on-demand vendor Diva Systems Corp. is up in the air again after GemstarTV Guide International scuttled a deal to pick up Diva's electronic program guide assets and other intellectual property for about $40 million....

Oceanic, Navic make interactive waves. (upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Time Warner Cable's Oceanic division--already considered a pioneering cable system after its early ground-breaking commercial rollout of video-on-demand-has become the MSO's first to leverage Navic Networks' Set-top Data Services (SDS)...

Pioneer launches developers program. (upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Pioneer Digital Technologies has launched a third-party application developers program. Dubbed "Compass," the effort will center on the integration of new services for the Pioneer Passport interactive program guide environment and the vendor's...

Juniper intros compact CMTS. (upfront: latest news and insight).(cable modem termination system )
November 1, 2002... Juniper Networks will tackle the small- to mid-sized MSO sector with the "G1," a new "pizza box"-sized cable modem termination system (CMTS). The compact G1 complements Juniper's DOCSIS 1.1-qualified Gl0 model, a full-chassis,...

14 respond to OCAP RFP. (upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... More than a dozen companies responded to a request for proposal (RFP) that CableLabs issued for the OpenCable Application Platform (OCAP), a middleware specification for OpenCable-based digital set-tops. The 14 responding companies were:...

Charter to serve up Iserv. (upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Charter Communications Inc. has become the Latest MSO to allow unaffiliated Internet service providers onto its broadband grid after inking a deal with Iserve Co., a Michigan-based ISP. Charter said it will offer its primary, housebrand...

Cable access gear revenue down in 2002. (upfront: latest news and insight).
November 1, 2002... Mirroring the generally sluggish economic climate, global revenue for cable access platforms, a sector that includes cable modem termination systems (CMTSs), dropped by more than nine percent to $181.9 million in the first half of 2002, Gartner...

ESPN runs with the HD ball. (upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... ESPN, joining programmers such as Discovery Communications, has become the latest network to embrace HDTV with a new service. ESPN said the service, dubbed ESPN HD, will produce 100 live telecasts in HD (in 720p format) during its first...

Comcast buys into Broadbus. (upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Video-on-demand vendor Broadbus Technologies said it raised "more than $12 million" in a series A-1 round of financing, led by Battery Ventures and Charles River Ventures. Comcast Interactive Capital was also among the other participating...

Convergent targets cable-based IP telephony. (upfront: latest news and insight).
November 1, 2002... After toiling away early and quietly on the PacketCable front, Convergent Networks now appears ready to start making some noise about cable-based IP telephony. Founded in 1998, Lowell, Mass.-based Convergent had its cable coming-out party...

BigBand's latest app offers digital Rx. (upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... BigBand Networks has launched a self-healing redundancy platform for digital cable services and has landed AT&T Broadband as the first customer for the new product. Leveraging Gigabit Ethernet technology, the platform is designed to...

Zenith guides HD. (upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Although there's a relative dearth of high-definition programming available, that hasn't stopped Zenith Electronics Corp. from helping HD-ready consumers find what they're looking for. Zenith, through an alliance with Decisionmark Corp.,...

Thomson snaps up Canal+ Technologies. (upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Thomson Multimedia beefed up its technology portfolio via the purchase of middleware and conditional access provider Canal+ Technologies. Thomson said it will acquire Canal+ Group's 89 percent stake in the technology unit for $186 million...

Arris to resell Alopa OSS. (upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Operational support systems provider Alopa Networks inked a reseller agreement with Arris in October, enabling Arris to pitch the vendor's OSS platform to operators that offer services such as tiered data and IP telephony. The deal, Alopa said,...

ICTV's `HeadendWare' makes some headway. (upfront: latest news and insight).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... Canada-based Access Communications has stepped up to become the first cable operator to deploy HeadendWare, ICTV Inc.'s new headend-based digital interactive-television platform. HeadendWare, introduced by ICTV in April, is marked for...

Surviving digital churn: from bundling to VOD to broadband gaming, cable operators are trying to build enough value to keep subscribers from leaving their digital islands.
November 1, 2002... In the land of primetime television, "Survivor" is but a game in which contestants attempt to outwit, outplay and outlast each other and win a cool $1 million. But when it comes to broadband cable, surviving the vicious vortex that is digital...

Jump into the PON: clearing up the murky waters of passive optical networks. (Fiber line: fiber optic technology).
November 1, 2002... Analysts and industry leaders alike are predicting a sharp increase in passive optical network (PON) deployments in the next few years. Last May, analyst firm InStat/MDR forecast that PON revenue would grow at an annual compounded rate of 65.5...

Wrestling with on-demand services: how to make VOD a common household name. (Net working: advanced networking technology).
November 1, 2002... Ten years ago, cable TV subscribers were accustomed to receiving broadcast programs and choosing which one to watch via a pre-determined line-up. Back then, the common viewer would have responded with a blank stare when asked about VOD...

Attracting more eyeballs: digital ad insertion poised for revenue greatness. (Networking: advance networking technology).
November 1, 2002... Recent advances in digital advertising insertion technology and the corresponding adoption of the gear by cable operators is leading the industry into the unexplored territory of digital-to-digital, addressable and interactive advertising...

The price of performance: why best-performing networks are a gamble, at best. (Broadband: business and news perspective).(Column)
November 1, 2002... Cable operators may not know it, but most "best performing" and "high-performance" networks operate at a degraded performance level a good deal of the time. Every hour of every day, premium and Tier-1 networks experience performance pain. As a...

The personal touch. (In the loop).(Editorial)
November 1, 2002... Did you ever notice that one of today's biggest advertising trends is to take a concept meant for the mass market, but sell it based on its personal appeal? In other words, rather than making the pitch that you can join the "in" crowd by...

Transcoder/multiplexer for content grooming. (new products: product reviews).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... AMSTERDAM, Netherlands--Motorola Inc. Broadband Communications Sector has introduced its next-generation TMX-2010 transcoder/multiplexer. The TMX-2010 provides MPEG-2 service multiplexing, grooming, video bitrate transcoding and IP data...

VoIP broadband access gateway. (Access Gateway).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... SAN DIEGO, Calif.--Nuera Communications Inc. has unveiled the new ORCA RDT-8g and RDT-8v (RDT-8) VoIP broadband access gateways. The RDT-8 is designed for broadband service providers who need to get a deployable, IP-based telephony service into...

IPTV home gateways. (new products: product reviews).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... SHIPLEY, West Yorkshire, England--Pace Micro Technology has introduced a new range of IPTV home gateways (set-top boxes) for telcos and broadband IP operators seeking to launch advanced television and multimedia services. The new IP400 family...

Optical node. (new products: product reviews).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... OLD BRIDGE, N.J.--Blonder Tongue Laboratories Inc. has released a new addition to its fiber optic product line, a two-way capable, four-output optical node with output capability of +50 dBmV at -6 dBm of optical input (the BOFN-S4S-870-50:...

Video encoding/ streaming server. (new products: product reviews).(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... HERZLIYA, Israel--Optibase Ltd. has unveiled its MGW 2400, a high-density, multichannel, Microsoft Windows Media video encoding and streaming server. The MGW 2400 is designed to compress and stream (multicast or on-demand unicast) up to six...

Bumps in the DTV regulation road. (capital currents).
November 1, 2002... Congressmen Tauzin and Dingell, unhappy with the slow transition to digital broadcast television, have circulated a draft of legislation that is intended to speed things up by squeezing the relevant industries. All the interested...

Wi-Fi hotspots heat up: the unauthorized sharing of broadband connections through wireless home networking technologies has yet to go mainstream, but the practice has caught cable's attention. (In Depth).
November 1, 2002... Most parents tell their children that sharing is a good thing. In fact, it is usually deemed rude when people keep everything for themselves. While the phrase "share and share alike" is typically embraced when it comes to everyday...

Video distribution: home networking's ultimate end: the early home networks of today share broadband connections and peripherals. But wouldn't video be a more compelling application of personal networking technology? Unfortunately, video's inherent differences from data, along with the lack of a truly reliable and robust digital transmission medium, make that idea more fantasy than reality in the near term. (In Depth).
November 1, 2002... Today, the very tip of the home networking iceberg is all that is showing. Slowly moving beyond the "early adopter" stage that typically precedes the proliferation of any new personal technology, home connectivity gear is becoming increasingly...

Home networking rollouts have a new bottom line: money: customers want them. Operators are anxious to provide them. But as pilot programs for home networks begin to dot the operator landscape, a definitive model that makes the effort an ultimately profitable one is still shaking out. (In Depth).
November 1, 2002... Home networks have been set squarely in cable operators' sights for some time now, but lingering questions about customer demand, network serviceability and the technology have kept operators from jumping in with both feet. Currently, those...

Test time for CableHome: CableLabs leaves it up to vendors to submit products for official testing, but only two answer the call. (In Depth).
November 1, 2002... Two residential gateway makers made major statements in mid-October after becoming the first vendors to submit products to CableLabs for official CableHome 1.0 testing. The only vendors that decided to stick their necks out and gun for...

Understanding the role of OSS.(operations support systems )
November 1, 2002... Faced with unprecedented customer demands for broadband services and a highly competitive marketplace, cable television system operators are being pressured to continually expand their service offerings while containing the associated...

Proof of performance testing.
November 1, 2002... COLOR PARAMETERS Depth of modulation Using a signal level meter 1. Connect the equipment as shown. Set the variable attenuator to 0 dB. 2. Adjust the SLM attenuator/sensitivity controls for maximum video output without...

Repaying a debt: the Hall of Fame recognizes decades of contributions from seven executives who played major roles in cable's development.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2002... For the fifth time in as many years, cable industry leaders are gathering to recognize the contributions of people who profoundly influenced the direction of the industry. The seven individuals being inducted into the Cable Hall of Fame...

Leadership from the heart: while helping to build Comcast, Dan Aaron demonstrated just how enlightened management could be.
November 1, 2002... It would turn out to be one of the most fateful days in the history of the cable TV industry. Dan Aaron, a bright young broker, strolled down Chestnut Street in Philadelphia with Warren "Pete" Musser, a cable operator with a system to sell...

A steady hand: Ed Allen inspired trust, and left the cable industry a better place than he'd found it.
November 1, 2002... The new chairman of C-SPAN had a problem. The fledgling public affairs network had cobbled together enough cash and other resources to get up and running, but it would founder if it didn't expand its tiny subscriber base. This wouldn't be easy...

Man in the middle: Frank Drendel supplies the cable in cable television and the cement in the information highway.
November 1, 2002... Frank Drendel tried not to gape, but he was genuinely awed: the three-story penthouse on Park Avenue, his tall, lean host, the lunch table set with silver, silk and crystal. He'd been to New York before, he told himself, but not this New York....

Mr. Independent: one of cable's earliest technology troubleshooters was also a forceful spokesman for small operators.
November 1, 2002... The freezing rains of early spring posed a slippery problem for early cable operators in Northeast Pennsylvania. Too often, passing storms would render the giant antennas used to pick up signals from Philadelphia all but useless. When this...

"To surprise and delight": Canada's cable mogul has led the industry in North America while pursuing his most important goal: to please his customers.
November 1, 2002... You just can't slow this man down. In 1992, after quadruple coronary bypass surgery, he was dictating letters and making phone calls before the anesthetic had completely worn off. When going on vacation, he's been known to transfer papers...

Two times a pioneer: Gene Schneider made his mark building and running some of the earliest cable systems in the U.S. Then he went worldwide.
November 1, 2002... Gene Schneider stood up and closed his briefcase. It was 1989 and his company, the 1.3 million-subscriber United Cable, had just merged with United Artists Cable to form the third-largest MSO in the U.S. He was to be chairman of the new...

Getting the job done: Cable's marketing society and women's advocacy group might not have gotten off the ground without Gail Sermersheim.
November 1, 2002... Of all the turning points in cable TV history, September 1975 brought one of the most critical. HBO, a struggling pay TV service that had been serving the northeast via microwave, put its signal up on satellite, launching the first nationally...