CED articles from September 2000

CED archives from September 2000

DTV's fall from grace.(the future of digital television)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Digital broadcast television is an absolute mess--and it's doubtful that it will get better before it gets worse. That's the clear message of a well-circulated article on the subject that appeared last month in The New York Times. Reporter...

`Cable-ready' PCs a reality with certified PCI-type modems.(Peripheral Component Interface)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Cable modems now may be installed directly into computers by PC makers, a major breakthrough in provisioning that results from Cable Television Laboratories certifying internal cable modem cards made by GVC and Zoom. This will allow consumers...

Pace inks gateway deal with Invensys.(Product Information)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Pace Micro Technology has inked an agreement with Invensys to jointly develop home networking technologies that will enable consumer appliances, heating and ventilating systems and security systems to communicate via Pace's set-top Home Gateway...

AT&T, Insight sign HFC telephony deal.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... AT&T took a step toward launching HFC-based telephone services outside its cable franchise areas when it finalized an agreement with Insight Communications in July. The agreement, the first of many that AT&T expects to forge, calls for AT&T to...

Cisco shows `always-on' home.(Internet Home benefits from continuous Internet connection)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Building on the vision to provide consumers with Internet access anywhere in the home at anytime, Cisco Systems Inc. unveiled its Internet Home recently. Cisco's 1,700-square-foot Internet Home showcases the benefits of a high-speed,...

upfront.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Motorola's cable modem termination system (CMTS) has been re-qualified by Cable Television Laboratories as part of its most recent certification wave. The qualification process provides the cable operator or broadband service provider with...

Consumers gobbling up new digital services.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... The cable industry's deployment of advanced digital services continued to accelerate during the second quarter of 2000 at a pace that will result in the doubling of the number of digital video, cable modem and cable telephony subscribers....

AT&T accelerates DSL roll-outs.(Digital Subscriber Lines)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... While one side of the house is busy rolling out high-speed data-over-cable service, another side is busy doing what it can to capture residential and business DSL customers. AT&T said last month it plans to accelerate its rollout of...

PacketCable testing completes second round.(Brief Article)(Industry Overview)
September 1, 2000... Cable Television Laboratories Inc. (CableLabs) completed the second round of PacketCable interoperability testing, and has begun releasing the compliance test plans (CTP) that will provide a tool for gauging conformance of vendors' products...

Revving up home networks.(companies team up to provide high speed service)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... As cable operators struggle to understand how to capitalize on the popularity of home networking, SOHOware Inc., Road Runner and Time Warner Cable have teamed to provide residential customers in Austin and San Antonio, Texas with a...

WorldGate gets shot in arm.(investments)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... WorldGate Communications Inc. reached mufti-year agreements with Adelphia Communications Corp., Comcast Cable Communications Inc., and Cox Communications Inc.; and extended an existing agreement with Charter Communications Inc. for the digital...

Comcast to test TiVo service in Cherry Hill.(personal video recorders service)(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Personal TV provider TiVo Inc. and Comcast Cable Communications Inc. will deploy the TiVo Personal TV Service in one Comcast cable system to determine how consumers react to the new technology. The companies will jointly market and distribute...

RCN expands presence in Northeast corridor.(RCN Corp.to offer voice, video and data services)(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Competitive service provider RCN Corp. has received regulatory approval to deliver a full suite of voice, video and data services to the residents of Cliffside Park in Hudson County and in several Bergen County, N.J. communities. RCN is also...

BroadStreet takes aim with Lucent agreement.(BroadStreet Communications agreement with)(Lucent Technologies for development of broadband network)(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... BroadStreet Communications, a communications service provider to small- and medium-sized businesses, crafted a $120 million agreement with Lucent Technologies to build a next-generation broadband network, to be deployed in 16 cities by the...

Hybrid, Thomcast ally for global MMDS effort.(Hybrid Networks Inc. contract withThomcast Communications Inc.)(for broadband wireless service)(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... MMDS fixed broadband wireless manufacturer Hybrid Networks Inc. has formed an alliance with Thomcast Communications Inc. to deliver a complete fixed broadband wireless package to service providers. Under the alliance, Thomcast's Comwave...

Comcast taps Cisco for hardware.(Comcast Cable Communications Inc. contracts with)(Cisco Systems Inc. for cable networking components)(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Cisco Systems Inc. said it will work with Comcast Cable Communications Inc. to provide cable networking components that enable delivery of broadband services to cable TV customers. Under the three-year agreement, Cisco will be the preferred...

TRIPPING THE LIGHT FANTASTIC.(lasers for broadband transmission)(Industry Overview)
September 1, 2000... Lasers may provide an economical, high-capacity and fiberless connection that can help broadband bridge that crucial last mile. When the word "laser" is uttered, you might think about compact discs. You might think about the latest in eye...

One Power Supply = One Node.(MediaOne)
September 1, 2000... A Progress Report on MediaOne's Power Domain Node Architecture Early last year, MediaOne reported in this journal (CED February 1999) on the development of a new hybrid fiber/coax network topology for plant upgrades which takes fiber one...

DELIVERING BROADBAND TO THE HOME.(Deep Fiber Hybrid fiber/coax systems to supply high-speed Internet access in homes)(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Deep Fiber HFC Access Architectures for Greenfield Applications With consumer demand for high-speed Internet access, multiple voice lines, and video-on-demand (VOD) growing rapidly, telecommunications service providers in the process of...

Eliminating the access network choke point.(use of optical electronics to offer more bandwidth)(Industry Overview)
September 1, 2000... Quenching consumers' thirst for more bandwidth Pressure on network and cable operators is escalating as new competitors enter the market and subscribers demand more applications and interactive services. Advances in Wide Area Network (WAN)...

Mirrors, bubbles lead race to pure optical switching.
September 1, 2000... Long-haul ops seek solutions to meet bandwidth demand In the swift-moving world of optical networking, long-haul operators are finding a new generation of technologies to facilitate the rocketing demand for higher and higher levels of...

Stat-muxing creates new revenue streams.
September 1, 2000... Digital video management key to customized program lineups As deployments of digital television (DTV) accelerate, there is still a need for cable operators to customize their digital programming line-ups in order to optimize efficiency and...

POF emerging as viable glass option.(plastic optical fiber)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... The home network market could be plastic optical fiber's treasure For nearly a decade, the use of plastic optical fiber (POF) has been limited to markets requiring short distance applications of a few hundred feet. The expected onslaught...

Lighting the way.(optical transmission electronics growing in popularity)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Whatever you may think of Qwest, its new TV ad campaign is kind of catchy--you know, the one where it equates the capabilities of its network with a jukebox that can play every piece of music ever written and performed. What's most intriguing...

BUSINESS BRIEFS.(includes multiple articles)
September 1, 2000... Industry luminaries win book award SAN FRANCISCO--Modern Cable Television Technology: Video, Voice and Data Communications, written by Walt Ciciora, Ph.D., Dave Large and Jim Farmer, has won the 2000 Cable Book Award. The award was...

reader service.(includes multiple Web addresses)
September 1, 2000... Advanced Networking C-COR.net RS# 38 PG# 57 Global supplier of RF and AM fiber optic products for two-way HFC networks. Provides advanced engineering and field support nationwide for network management, servicing and solutions....

business people.
September 1, 2000... Stephen Brenner has been appointed president and CEO of iN DEMAND LLC. Brenner, an 18-year veteran of the cable TV industry, was most recently president of operations at USA Networks, where he was responsible for overseeing the company's...

new products.(includes multiple product announcements)(Product Announcement)
September 1, 2000... Optical remote test access system MINNEAPOLIS--ADC has announced the availability of its FSXpert, a smart optical remote test access system for fiber networks. The solution provides network operators access into fiber optic networks for...

Global Positioning update.(Global Positioning System)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Some recent events will affect the Global Positioning Satellite System (GPS) and the frequencies it uses. First, the government turned off a signal degradation that caused intentional errors. Then the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC)...

Time Really Is Money.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The high-tech, high-speed world of broadband, like most other industries, is running out of time. That's because while everything gets faster and faster, the time you're allotted to get good, solid or profitable results is getting shorter and...

Cable gets personal.(Comcast Cable Communications Inc. announces foray into Personal/)(Digital Video Recorder service)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
September 1, 2000... The seemingly unstoppable surge of Personal or Digital Video Recorder service (see the August 2000 issue of CED for a detailed feature on the topic) has made its first foray into cable's broadband world. The stand-alone units allow viewers to...

Charter taps Belden for coax.(Charter Communications Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Charter Communications Inc. has waved its magic order wand over Belden Inc.'s Electronics Division with an agreement to purchase more than 5 million feet of coaxial cable for several new master headend and primary hub structures being built...

Smart TV devices will shift viewer habits.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Forrester Research Inc. announced in a recent report that a dramatic shift in how viewers consume television programming is underway. The report said that even as they drain $18 billion in ordinary TV advertising revenues, smarter TV devices...

WOW opens up, spreads out.(WideOpenWest L.L.C.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... WideOpen West LLC, a competitive overbuilder, has announced it has signed what is expected to be the first of many deals to grant open access to its high-speed, broadband fiber optic network by a regional ISP (Internet service provider). The...

BellSouth sets a DBS pace.(Pace Micro Technology)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Continuing on its march toward a future in video, BellSouth announced an agreement for Pace Micro Technology to provide digital set-top boxes for the telco's entrance into the satellite (DBS) business. The 200,000 advanced DVB digital set-top...

Digital TV numbers on a definite high.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... A recent forecast from Strategy Analytics estimates that 56 million homes around the world will be watching digital TV by the end of the year. The U.K. is now the world's most advanced market, says the report, with an expected 29 percent of...

And the award goes to ...(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The SCTE has announced that two new Emerging Technology awards have been established. The two new awards include the Deployment of Emerging Applications (IDEA) Award, and the Star of Integrity Award. The awards are being made possible...

Rural broadband upgrade costs estimated.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The National Exchange Carrier Association Inc. has released the results of a new study that estimates the cost of upgrading rural area telephone lines to broadband capability. The study seems to verify two widely held, but contradictory,...

S-A, Motorola PODs pass the test.(Scientific-Atlanta Inc.)(Cable Television Laboratories Inc.)(Motorola Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... The CableLabs Review Board has verified the interoperability of digital removable security devices from Scientific-Atlanta and Motorola, it's expected these devices, which are also called point-of-deployment (POD) security modules, will be made...

Motivation is more than just a paycheck.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Tailoring rewards to different behavioral styles Motivation is a big challenge in today's workplace; however, it can sometimes get sidelined in the overall challenge of "how do I get this done"? While we must ensure an employee has the...

Preparing for a pre-bid meeting.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Successful meetings take a little planning to produce the results you want In the July 2000 issue of Plant Management, I discussed "Tips for Conducting Successful Meetings." Why not put that knowledge to work at your next pre-bid meeting?...

An accident, by any other name, is still preventable.(kevin@safety1.bizland.com)
September 1, 2000... Instead of waiting around for accidents to happen, lots of time and money can be saved by those companies who take a proactive approach to accident prevention Before we can really get down to work, we have to know what we are up against...

Narrowing the gap on critical staffing needs.(broadband services industry)
September 1, 2000... Crucial time-to-market and revenue demands are forcing service providers to search for new ways to bolster their workforce recruitment and training before it's too late If one wants to be a total cynic, the situation can only go from bad...

people.
September 1, 2000... Filemon Lopez Comcast Cable Communications has named Filemon Lopez as president of Comcast University, the company's employee training, education and development center. In this new role, Lopez will lead the company's efforts to develop a...

Reconfiguring Networks for Dynamic Cable Modem Take-Rates.(sara_manderfield@adc.com)
September 1, 2000... Flexible Headend Design and Cable Management Techniques Analysts predict that by 2003, worldwide cable modem subscriptions will leap from 2.2 million at the end of 1999 to almost 12.7 million in 2003. During the same period, worldwide...

reader service.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Construction CommScope Inc. RS# 314 PG# 20 CommScope: ISO 9001 registered manufacturer of a comprehensive line of coaxial and fiber optic cables for all telecommunications applications. www.commscope.com Lemco Tool Corp. RS# 317...

Products.(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Channel Deletion Filter EAST SYRACUSE, N.Y.--Microwave Filter Company has introduced a rack-mount version of its "brickwall" channel deletion filter (Model R3271). The new unit provides greater than 50 dB suppression of the entire channel...

Lucent's Cable Strategy Intensifies as New Services Unfold.
September 1, 2000... Competition, edgy new technologies and the potentially staggering revenues derived from new services such as IP telephony, internet access, high-speed data and a host of others yet to come are pushing the cable industry into uncharted waters,...

Growth and Integrated Technologies Challenge Cable Operators to Design Smart Network Strategies.(Lucent Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Commitment and a true understanding of the unique issues facing the cable industry as it morphs into a multi-service business is Lucent Technologies' mandate for the new century. Long-considered a premier supplier of communications networks...

Developing Common Standards: A Challenge for Lucent and CableLabs.(Lucent Technologies Inc.)(Cable Television Laboratories Inc.)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Lucent Technologies' heritage as a provider of advanced technologies to the global communications market is a key component to the company's drive into the cable industry. Cutting-edge technological expertise is what it intends to use as its...

2000-2001 Fiber Topologies Comparison.(fiber optic system architecture)(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
September 1, 2000... Adelphia Cable's passive coaxial network Designed by Adelphia Cable Communications engineers to be a cost-effective method of eliminating all active components from the cable network, the true passive architecture places a node every...