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Daily news and top headlines for broadband communications engineering and design professionals
Commerce.TV reels in Adelphia
February 25, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsMeeting ever increasing demand for interactive TV, Adelphia cable subscribers will be getting interactive television services from Commerce.TV Adelphia expects to deploy the interactive platform to its digital cable subscribers as part of its standard digital TV package by the end of the year. Adelphia has approximately 5.
InfoSpace and ICTV do interactive deal
February 25, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsInfoSpace and ICTV have hooked up to design, optimize and deliver InfoSpace's broadband services and iTV applications through ICTV's digital broadband platform. According to the companies, InfoSpace plans to integrate a number of its broadband services and iTV applications with the ICTV digital broadband platform, including applications like search and reference and finance and games.
Cox buying a whole lot of set-tops
February 25, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsCox is making a volume purchase of Scientific-Atlanta Explorer advanced set-tops. The number two MSO plans to purchase at least 240,000 of S-A's Explorer 2100 digital interactive set-tops in 2001. The digital box offers enhanced features the company thinks is sure to whet subscribers' appetite for interactive TV applications.
TyCom ahead of schedule
February 25, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsTyCom 's transatlantic portion of the TyCom Global Network (TGN), scheduled to be placed in service in July 2001, will reach increased capacity sooner than expected and able to meet demand for larger bandwidth increments, including wavelengths. The upgrade to 560 gigabits per second, which will double initial capacity, will be in place by the first half of 2002, approximately one year ahead of ...
COAX and Integra5 team up
February 22, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsHeadend and networking products manufacturer Coax and Integra5, a developer of unified messaging, are blending their technologies to develop UniTVO, a broadband messaging application using Coax's programmable headend architecture. "Our MISTICO headend router and Integra5's UniTVO content-aware gateway will operate with a variety of existing set-top boxes and will require no additional customer ...
Tit for tat…not
February 22, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsQwest has given up trying to talk its way onto AT&T Broadband 's network and now intends to force its way in, reports the Rocky Mountain News. Working through public utilities commissions and possibly the FCC, the broadband networks provider will try to stake what it believes is a legal claim on AT&T's network.
Liberty on the move
February 22, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsA busy week for Liberty Media has culminated in some big deals and the reality of a spinoff. The company is purchasing a majority stake, 55 percent, in six regional cable TV companies owned by German telecom group Deutsche Telekom. By inking this deal, Liberty will gain access to approximately 10 million households in a dozen German states.
Tit for tat…not(2)
February 22, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsQwest has given up trying to talk its way onto AT&T Broadband 's network and now intends to force its way in, reports the Rocky Mountain News. Working through public utilities commissions and possibly the FCC, the broadband networks provider will try to stake what it believes is a legal claim on AT&T's network.
Talk to me
February 21, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsThe visually impaired may no longer be cut off from the new world of interactive TV. AOL and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting/WGBH National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) are launching a research partnership to make interactive TV more available to the visually impaired. The project will initially focus on the next generation of set-top boxes, specifically making the electronic progr...
Siemens makes Efficient play
February 21, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsIn a direct effort to strengthen its DSL presence, German company Siemens has offered approximately $1.5 billion in cash for Dallas-based Efficient Networks. Efficient Networks' product line includes DSL modems, routers, integrated access devices, supporting voice and data services and management systems and software.
Liberate teams with DemandVideo
February 21, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsDemandVideo has signed up to use Liberate's TV Platform Compact software to deliver VOD to its subscribers. The combination of DemandVideo's VOD services with Liberate's software creates a package service providers can use to deliver a comprehensive VOD offering, including content acquisition, encoding, management and co-branded marketing programs for affiliates.
Beyond VCRs to home networking
February 21, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsA new Cahners In-Stat report shows Americans have moved way beyond the relatively simple problems of programming their VCRs and are now into creating their own home networks. The survey of 1,000 households finds that the networked home is more likely to have always-on access, and the household probably owns other tech gadgets like video game consoles, CD ROM recorders and have digital satellite...
Wink gets ad nod
February 20, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsWink interactive television technology is bringing forth some good results for advertisers. In categories like auto, financial and pharmaceutical, Wink advertising partners' campaigns report that between 30 and 50 percent of viewers requested more information or new account kits for the products. The company's end-to-end i-TV system lets advertisers create targeted communication with viewers.
TWE has its day in court
February 20, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsRemember the adage, "give 'em an inch…?" Time Warner Entertainment has certainly fought hard for its mile. The media giant argued this week that it should be able to serve many more customers than the 1992 Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act allows. But the Supreme Court disagreed, reports the Associated Press.
Teligent wraps it up
February 20, 2001 7:00 pm | by Karen Kessler-Tanaka | CommentsTeligent has begun offering its "Integrated Access" service, which lets businesses pay one flat rate for many broadband digital and analog communications services, including voice, fax and high-speed Internet access. The service uses Teligent's SmartWave network to group the digital voice communications channels and analog business lines with high-speed dedicated Internet access over the same l...
