Tollgrade CEO: No snow job — 'tough sledding' in 2002

Copyright 2002 Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News Copyright 2002 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Pittsburgh Post - te…03/01/2002 From LexisNexis Tollgrade Communications Inc., which saw its profits slashed in half and 25 percent of its staff get pink slips last year, expects the hard times to continue in 2002.

iSurfTV 'maps' out IPG plans

Hoping to avoid the long reach of Gemstar-TV Guide's lawyers, iSurfTV said it has received a patent that covers and protects the company's "cornerstone" interactive program guide technology.

That patent, No. 6,342,884, covers iSurfTV's use of texture mapping to display text or images on an IPG.

New Motorola companion box to fuel Charter's iTV efforts

A new companion box from Motorola Broadband Communications Sector may not make people forget about Steve Perlman's latest venture, Moxi Digital Inc., but it might push Motorola's advanced DCT-5000 box a bit further back on MSO burners.

Charter Communications Inc. said it will deploy a new "class" of set-top built by Motorola Broadband Communications Sector to offer advanced iTV services and applications to its installed base of digital customers by the end of the year.

Cox exec preps for tomorrow's mayoral runoff

Far south of the now-quiet Tauzin-Dingell fray, another contest is underway as former Cox executive Ray Nagin squares off with the local police chief in tomorrow's New Orleans mayoral runoff election.

Nagin could not pause for questions — "I am running pretty hard and you have a lot of questions," he told CEDaily.

TollgradeCEO:Nosnowjob—'toughsledding'in2002

Pittsburgh Post - te…03/01/2002

From LexisNexis

Tollgrade Communications Inc., which saw its profits slashed in half and 25 percent of its staff get pink slips last year, expects the hard times to continue in 2002.

Court ruling shields cable from pole attachment bullet

In a huge win for the cable industry, the Pole Attachments Act does cover attachments that provide high-speed Internet access at the same time as cable TV, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled, in a 6-2 decision.

The decision on National Cable & Telecommunications Association Inc. v. Gulf Power Co. et al reverses one from the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which had held that co-mingled services of high-speed Internet and traditional cable TV services were not covered by the Act's two rate formulas.

Cisco gets late 1.1-qualification nod

About a month after CableLabs shared results from certification wave 20, the industry's R&D house gave a belated passing grade to Cisco Systems' uBR7246 cable modem termination system for DOCSIS 1.1 qualification.

The nod puts Cisco in elite company. Arris Group is the only other vendor thus far to obtain the DOCSIS 1.1 qualification green light.

Knology boosts broadband content with Incanta

Offering its cable modem customers more than just raw data speeds, overbuilder Knology Inc. has rolled-out Incanta Inc.'s broadband music services to customers in Georgia, South Carolina, Alabama and Florida.

Internet VOD on the launch pad...for now

Despite some momentum kicking in for Internet-based video-on-demand, the application won't gain substantial roll-outs in the U.S. until 2005, predicted a GartnerG2 study.

Even at that point in time, only two percent of movie distribution revenue will come from the Internet, the research firm predicts.

Com21 sets DOCSIS CMTS plans

Entering an extremely competitive field, Com21 Inc. said it is developing a DOCSIS cable modem termination system to complement the company's line of DOCSIS cable modems.

Com21's new CMTS, the DOXcontroller XB, will also complement the company's line of proprietary ATM equipment, which has found success outside U.S. borders.