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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
Internet still reaps bulk of VC funds, but loses ground
July 30, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsInternet-specific companies took $3 billion, or the bulk of the country's venture capital, although its percentage of the total pot is losing ground to the life sciences sector, a study says. A joint study from Venture Economics and the National Venture Capital Association says venture capitalists invested $10.
Deals of the day roundup
July 29, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsCopperCom and Kenetec Inc. will combine their technologies into a solution that delivers voice over broadband to multitenant units. EurekaGGN, which today landed $20 million in equity financing, will deploy the system in New York City, the trio report. CopperCom will supply its CSX2199 media gateway, CopperController softswitch and VOB gateway, and Kenetec will provide its EdgeExpress 5000 serv...
Charter sees $273.9 M net loss, revenue up
July 29, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsCharter Communications' second-quarter net loss reached $273.9 million, or $1.07 a share, but revenue was up 16.1 percent, from $794.8 million to $928.5 million. A solid $32.9 million of that was from cable modems, more than double last year's $15.1 million. Digital video accounted for $68.2 million of total revenue, and analog video, $666.
Alcatel Optronics buys Kymata for $117.2 M in stock
July 29, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsAlcatel Optronics will acquire Kymata Ltd. for $117.2 million in stock, it reports. The purchase gives Alcatel access to Kymata's planar technology for high-end passive optical components and saves it two years in time-to-market for its planar products. "Their high-end passive components complement our own high-end active component portfolio," says Alcatel Optronics CEO Jean-Christophe Giroux i...
Pioneer task force to tackle home networks
July 29, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsPioneer is gambling that TV and digital set-top boxes will act as the hub of home networks. The set-top and software maker formed a home-networking task force to develop systems combining its home entertainment, and cable and communications products. The team, drawn from the company's business solutions and home entertainment divisions, will be headed by VP of Product Development Ray Tozaki and...
Cable MSOs eye OCAP revisions
July 26, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsCable Television Laboratories Inc. and its members are working on a revised version of the Open Cable Application Platform (OCAP), a standardized middleware specification designed to run applications on forthcoming OpenCable-compliant digital set-top boxes, industry sources close the situation confirmed.
Gigabit to the home lit up in California
July 26, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsCompetisys Corp. today lit up its HomeStream system at the Poppy Meadows development in American Canyon, Calif. The new system, purportedly the first of its kind in the country, provides a Gigabit Ethernet, direct fiber-optic connection into the home. Services to be piped over the full duplex system include IP telephony, video (digital television and other video products including PVR capabilit...
CEA sets powerline networking tests
July 26, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsThe Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) said today that its R7.3 Home Networking Subcommittee will begin extensive field-testing of existing powerline carrier (PLC) technologies on October 1 and will select the winning technology for a technical standard by January 2002. CEA will oversee the testing, which will be conducted by a professional third-party test service.
Jupiter posts subscriber gains in Japan
July 26, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsJupiter Telecommunications Co. Ltd., the largest broadband and cable service provider in Japan, reported an impressive one-year gain in total subscriber households, as well as in cable TV, telephony and high-speed access subscriber categories. Since the end of June 2000, the number of households subscribing to at least one Jupiter service increased 84 percent (485,000 subs), from 591,400 to 1,0...
Transition to DTV has obstacles
July 25, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsLooks like the transition to digital broadcasting won't exactly be pain-free. According to ATSC performance compliance analysis performed by digital datacasting and testing company Triveni Digital, digital transport streams from broadcasters are filled with enough errors that they could have a negative impact on picture quality.
Remote workers will drive broadband demand
July 25, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsRemote workers (aka telecommuters) in the U.S. are driving increased demand for broadband services, according to a new study from research firm Cahners In-Stat Group. By 2005, more than 60 percent of the U.S. workforce will be considered remote/telecommuters, driving continued need for remote connectivity and high-speed Web access, the report suggests.
Consortium gives HDTV a jump-start
July 25, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsThey may be strange bedfellows, but a wide-ranging group of media companies and Hollywood movie studios has banded together to support a new digital interface that incorporates copy protection for high-definition television content. The interface, dubbed "Digital Visual Interface (DVI) with high-bandwidth digital content protection (HDCP)," was specifically designed to port high-def signals fro...
Yipes acquires rights from bankrupt Broadband Office
July 24, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsOne man's problems are just another's fortune. Yipes Communications Inc. has acquired the rights to serve more than 3,500 office buildings nationwide from bankrupt company Broadband Office. In conjunction with the Delaware court proceeding, Yipes has signed access agreements with nine major real estate entities who own or control more than half of Broadband Office's portfolio.
Global broadband market expected to double by 2004
July 24, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsDespite the current economic malaise, worldwide broadband Internet subscribers will total more than 15 million in 2001 and double in size to at least 30 million in 2004, according to a new report from Multimedia Research Group Inc. Revenues for IP (streaming) media servers and storage are currently $3.
Cox net income down 66%; Excite needs funds, or else
July 23, 2001 8:00 pm | by Anne Kerven | CommentsCox Communications' second quarter net income fell 66 percent to $30.7 million, or 5 cents a share, from $91.2 million, or 15 cents a share, a year ago, Cox reports. Basic customers reached 6.2 million, up 5 percent over a year ago. Total revenues were up 14 percent, to $1 billion from about $879 million a year ago.
