ARRIS MDU gear plays Nashville

ARRIS has scored a deal to outfit the 2,881-room Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center and the 300-room Radisson Hotel at Opryland with high-speed data access.

The sites will use ARRIS' CXM Broadband suite, which is specifically designed to address the hospitality and multiple dwelling unit (MDU) marketplace. ARRIS' CXM BG30X gateways and SD30X SandDollar modems will tap into the sites' existing coax-based networks.

Cebridge connects with TiVo

Cebridge Connections has inked a deal to offer the TiVo Inc. digital video recording service to about 300,000 cable customers.

Starting in late September, Cebridge will market the TiVo service and feature the new stand-alone, 80-hour Series2 DVR. Financial terms were not disclosed.

WildBlue inserts new CEO

With WildBlue Communications' satellite broadband service finally off the ground, and its first customers logged on, it's apparently time for Tom Moore to step aside as the company's day-to-day leader.

FCC chief considers forcing cable TV competition

USA TODAY
August 23, 2005, Tuesday, FIRST EDITION
By Leslie Cauley
From Lexis Nexis

NEW YORK -- One little-noticed provision of the 1992 Cable Act could give the Federal Communications Commission the power to compel cities to let the regional Bells compete head-on with cable TV operators. And to do so quickly -- no foot-dragging allowed.

Akimbo plays ball

Stepping away from the niche and a bit closer to the mainstream, Akimbo Systems has inked a deal to offer a range of condensed games and highlights from Major League Baseball.

The agreement, made with MLB Advanced Media (MLBAM), gives Akimbo the ability to provide the content in the "early morning" the day after the games. Akimbo will also archive games of note, including perfect games, playoff games and World Series games.

Emergica taps Broadstream for IPTV

Emergica Broadband Media Corp. has teamed with Broadstream Communications Inc. to help the company launch an IPTV service via ADSL2+ and fiber-to-the-home networks in northern Colorado.

Broadstream, a turnkey IPTV outsourcer that provides headend, transport and middleware services and support, said it will deliver more than 200 channels to Emergica via its satellite-based IPTV Connect content distribution platform.

Entone names cable sales chief

Video-on-demand and IPTV gateway supplier Entone Technologies has hired Jeff Pierce to head up the company's cable sales in North America.

Pierce most recently served as sales director at N2 Broadband (now part of Tandberg Television), where he added MSOs such as Cox Communications, Charter Communications and Adelphia Communications to N2's client list. He has also held sales and engineering posts at Motorola Inc., Scientific-Atlanta and Skylink America.

Texas Instruments chips in Wideband, cellular support

Texas Instruments has introduced a new cable chipset that incorporates cellular codecs and a "Wideband" reference design based on the forthcoming DOCSIS 3.0 specification

CableLabs OKs eight in wave 37

CableLabs handed out passing grades to eight products following certification wave 37.

A total of three modems were awarded DOCSIS 2.0 certification: the Asustek ACM6049EB, the Motorola Inc. SB5121 and the Turbocomm EC420.

HomePlug AV obtains board approval

The HomePlug Powerline Alliance board has finalized and unanimously approved the speedy HomePlug AV specification.

Backward compatible with HomePlug 1.0, the AV platform is designed to send multimedia streams, including VoIP and high-definition video, over home networks. It contains an advanced physical layer and a MAC layer that supports scheduled access (TDMA), quality of service guarantees and contention access capabilities.