* Adelphia’s John, Timothy Rigas denied appeal
By Traci Patterson
An appeal by John Rigas, the founder of Adelphia Communications, and his son Timothy – regarding their conspiracy and fraud convictions in 2004 – was rejected by the U.S. Supreme Court this week.
John served as Adelphia's president and CEO until the then-fifth-largest cable operator crumbled in 2002. In 2005, John was sentenced to 15 years in prison, while Timothy, Adelphia’s former CFO, was sentenced to 20 years. The two began serving their prison terms last year (story here).
Adelphia’s cable assets were sold off to Comcast and Time Warner in July 2006 (story here).
* Test enhancements keep coming from JDSU
By Brian Santo
JDSU added a 30 MHz far-end device (FED), the UltraFED, to its triple-play service testers. The UltraFED helps with troubleshooting 30 MHz VDSL2.
The company has also added to its WaveReady product line of scalable WDM optical transport solutions a flexible compact dual transponder designed for the transport of any service (OTN, SONET, Ethernet or fiber channel) between 125 Mbps and 4.25 Gbps. JDSU also announced configurable erbium-doped fiber amplifiers (EDFAs) designed to transport DWDM optical network services up to 43 Gbps, also for the WaveReady line.
Finally, the company introduced for its handheld DSL testers a VDSL service interface module (SIM) and a licensed option for Dr. DSL diagnostic solutions from Aware Inc. Both new features provide additional testing power for field technicians who install and maintain access networks and high-bit-rate triple-play services, including IPTV and HDTV, JDSU said.
* Arris’ C4 CMTS chosen by Brazil’s Net
By Traci Patterson
Arris announced that Brazil’s Net Serviços de Comunicação – the owner of Latin America’s largest cable operator, Net – has placed an order for Arris’ C4 CMTS to be deployed across its national footprint.
The C4 CMTSs will provide Net’s customers with high-speed Internet service, as well as VoIP service, in cities including Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba, Brasilia and Santos.
Net operates in 79 Brazilian cities. Its network of coaxial and fiber optic cable covers more than 44,000 kilometers and passes approximately 9 million homes.
* Alcatel-Lucent showing interactive IPTV portal at CeBIT
By Traci Patterson
At CeBIT, Alcatel-Lucent is demonstrating an interactive IPTV portal that allows for the integration of local content and enables consumers to interact with that content by rating videos, participating in games and receiving information by clicking on ad banners.
The IPTV portal will be implemented as a field trial in Friedrichshafen, Germany, for Deutsche Telekom’s T-City project. The project aims to increase the quality of life for T-City citizens through the implementation of IT and telecom projects that involve innovative technology and new applications related to all areas of city life.
The CeBIT demonstration and Friedrichshafen deployment are based on Alcatel-Lucent’s 5930 Interactive Media Manager (IMM) and the Microsoft Mediaroom IPTV and multimedia platform. The 5930 IMM product suite is an end-to-end solution for delivering interactive television (iTV) services across any platform (IPTV, digital satellite, digital cable, digital terrestrial, PC and mobile).
More Broadband Direct:
• Comcast gears up for wideband deployment in S. Fla.
• AT&T expanding worldwide presence
• Ovum: Cable ops’ revenues increased in Q4
• Secure Signals seeks ops for free beta test of GuardDog
• Verizon hiccups fulfilling FiOS promo offer
• AT&T’s VOD syncs up with movie review Web site
• Rentrak signs up 10 new content provider customers
• Yahoo buys time to fend off Microsoft
• Broadband Briefs for 3/05/08
