Broadband Week Direct - Daily News 9/6/00

Today's report from Web Editor Susan Rush

• EchoStar Taps Napster Lawyer
• NorthPoint Secures Verizon Financing
• MPEG-4 Gains Momentum
• Stream Your Way Into A New Job
• Broadband Briefs

EchoStar Taps Napster Lawyer

EchoStar looks to assemble its own "Dream Team" in its antitrust fight against DirectTV. The number-2 satellite television provider added attorney David Boies, the Microsoft prosecutor and Napster defender, to its roster of attorneys in its suit against the number-1 satellite television provider. DirectTV would not comment on the hiring of Mr. Boies.

EchoStar's suit, filed in the Federal District Court of Colorado in February, alleges that DirectTV acted in violation of federal and state antitrust laws in order to protect DirectTV's market share. According to the complaint, "DirectTV has demanded that certain retailers stop displaying EchoStar merchandise and has threatened to cause economic damage to retailers if they continued to offer both product lines in head-to-head competition." The lawsuit is in the discovery phase and no trial date has been set, according to an EchoStar spokesperson.

NorthPoint Secures Verizon Financing

In a pre-merger move, Verizon Communications makes a $150 million cash investment in NorthPoint Communications. The fund transfer is the first step in a plan announced in August to merge the two companies' DSL services by mid-2001. In total, Verizon plans to invest more than $800million in NorthPoint, with $350 million of that coming prior to finalizing the DSL marriage. Once the union is complete and a "new" NorthPoint is born, Verizon will have a 55 percent controlling interest in the company.

In exchange for the $150 million in cash, NorthPoint will fork over about $150 million in convertible preferred stock.

MPEG-4 Gains Momentum

The United States is expected to see a boom in broadband DSL and cable modem Internet connections from 3.3 million this year to 16.6 million in 2004, according to research from The Yankee Group. As more consumers get high-speed connections, the demand for high-quality video over the Internet stands to increase. The good news for content providers is the MPEG-4 digital video compression standard is making inroads and becoming closer to a reality.

Content delivery company Entera and Motorola Broadband Communications announced plans to develop MPEG-4 standards-based encoding/decoding solutions. The duo's goal is to design a system that enables content providers to deliver IP streaming video over a variety of bandwidth levels.

MPEG-4 includes two key elements: a high-efficiency means of encoding low-bit-rate transmissions -- generally under 1 megabit per second -- and object-oriented coding that enables content developers to manipulate discrete objects within a compressed bit stream. The technology could enable a content developer to switch objects in a program stream -- advertising on a sports-stadium facade, for example -- or even to control access to programming by encrypting a crucial object, such as the ball in a soccer match.

Stream Your Way Into A New Job

Telecommuting is becoming more mainstream, so why can't tele-interviewing? Jobs.com is making it possible with streaming audio and video. Jobs.com's Live Interactive Career Fairs connect employers and job seekers in a real-time online environment.

The interactive fairs offer employers and prospective employees a live audio/video forum to chat on the Internet. During the streaming Webcast, up to six employers discuss employment opportunities and the benefits of working for their companies, and participate in moderated question-and-answer sessions with interested job hunters. Jobs.com holds fairs in 16 metropolitan areas, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, Atlanta and Dallas/Fort Worth.

Broadband Briefs:

DSL technology provider Aware launches its DMTflex technology, which enables a single chipset to operate in three different modes: multi-port G.lite, multi-port full rate ADSL or single-port VDSL.
New Edge Networks plans to offer its DSL service in 45 small to mid-sized Ohio communities this fall. The company is in the process of installing, testing and certifying network equipment.
The EuroDOCSIS Certification Board qualifies Motorola's cable router cable modem termination system.
Marconi wins contract from British Telecommunications to build a high-speed optical network for its Dutch business Telfort. Financial details of the deal were not released.
Broadband Internet communications provider Qwest Communications secures two eight-year contracts to provide telecommunication services to federal government agencies in Albuquerque and Boise. The deal is reportedly worth $143 million.
Charles E. Smith Commercial Reality taps Everest Broadband Networks to deliver broadband services and applications to 57 of its office buildings in the greater Washington D.C. area.
AmQUEST joins Level 3 Communications' Integrated Partner Program and will use Level 3's Crossroads Internet access service to provide managed hosting services to business from its data centers.
Inmarsat Ventures will make use of its 64,000 bits-per-second satellite-based data service to deliver live sporting events and BBC news to airline passengers in the second half of 2001. The service will be offered under a newly formed company, Airia, a joint venture between Inmarsat and Live Inflight Video Entertainment.