Broadband Week Direct - Daily News 9/11/00

Today's report from Web Editor Susan Rush

• Running The Underwater Cable Race
• Interactive News Crew Hits The Road
• FCC Blesses SBC DSL Project
• Broadband Briefs

Running The Underwater Cable Race

On your mark, get set, run underwater cable. Global Crossing, Telefonica and 360networks are racing to be the first to light up the Americas' first pan-regional broadband undersea cable network, and according to The Yankee Group it is a race worth running. Latin America has a "growing thirst for bandwidth," and the wholesale market could exceed $3 billion by the end of next year. The market has the potential to balloon to $21 billion by the end of 2006.

The Yankee Group estimates that the total carrier demand for undersea cable capacity in Latin America will surpass 80 Gbps by the end of 2001, increasing by a CAGR of about 68 percent per year to total 1.4 Tbps in 2006. Being the first company to deliver service could help a company establish itself as Latin America's broadband leader, but quality of service, backhaul and corporate relationships will also be critical, according to the firm.

Interactive News Crew Hits The Road

Broadcast news meets MTV's Road Rules with the launch of "Extra's" Extra Mile, an interactive news crew that will scour the United States in a Winnebago searching for entertainment news. Online viewers can track the Extra Mile crew and make suggestions as to where they should head next. According to Steve Longo, the show's co-executive producer, "Extra" was re-launched to audiences on September 5 with a whole new look and an emphasis on interactivity. Extra Mile is in its infancy in terms of interactive technologies, but executives are gearing to offer streaming video live from the "Winnie" in the future.

The Extra Mile van is equipped with a TelEvoke GPS satellite receiver that continually tracks the location of the van and transmits that information back, using Aeris.net's MicroBurst cellular network, to the TelEvoke network operations center. The location information is converted into an address, and a map location is then displayed on the "Extra" Web site as "X marks the spot." Viewers can zoom in and out to identify the city, or even the block, where the "Extra" van is located. The satellite tracks the van within 60 feet of its actual location.

FCC Blesses SBC DSL Project

The Federal Communications Commission has spoken, making the phone giant SBC Communications a "Project Pronto" survivor. Regulators waived restrictions imposed on SBC in 1999 after its merger with Ameritech Corp., giving the company control of remote terminals and paving the way for mass deployment of its Neighborhood Broadband Gateways.

The ruling will enable SBC to overcome DSL's 18,000-foot distance limitations from the Central Office to the customer by running fiber into neighborhoods and upgrading existing remote terminals. "The gateways have the same capabilities as a CO, so they will essentially move the CO to within 12,000 feet of customers, enabling SBC to offer its high-speed service to a far greater number of customer," explains Michael Coe, an SBC spokesman. While awaiting FCC approval, SBC has been conducting trials to extend its DSL service reach and expand its high-speed subscriber base in Texas, California, Missouri and Connecticut.

The gateways are the next step in SBC's "Project Pronto," a plan launched last year to accelerate the deployment of its DSL service. SBC's goal is to have DSL service available to 80 percent of the telco's customers by the end of 2002. "In metro areas, the percentage will be closer to 100 percent," says Coe.

SBC plans to activate about 4,000 neighborhood gateways by year-end, and 18,000 by the end of 2002. The push for subscribers has gotten the company in some hot water over the past couple of months with existing customers. Last month, a group of DSL subscribers in Texas filed a class -action lawsuit against SBC company Southwestern Bell for allegedly reducing their high-speed DSL connection by two-thirds. And in July, the Utility Consumers' Action Network filed a lawsuit against another SBC company, Pacific Bell for deceptive trade practices concerning its DSL service.

Broadband Briefs:

Motorola Broadband Communications launches its DVi digital set-tops, providing digital video/audio and interactive services for European markets. The two advanced models, DVi-5000+ and DVi-4000, come with built-in EuroDOCSIS cable modem for IP and video telephony services.
Level 3 Communications plans a third advanced data center in Silicon Valley, after reaching collation capacity its second center that opened in June.
nBand secures $14 million in second round financing from VantagePoint Venture Partners and other investors. The company develops programmable broadband wireless technology.
United Pan-Europe Communications tabs Liberate Technologies' software to deliver digital interactive TV services to Vienna network. Liberate secured the deal after Microsoft, a company in which UPC holds an 8 percent share, failed to deliver its interactive TV platform in a timely fashion.
Accord Networks releases its V2GC-20 Firewall Gateway. The system enables service providers to offer interactive video and Voice over IP over a secure network.
Netopia wins contract to supply its DSL equipment to Rhythms Canada. Rhythms will use the equipment to provide business-class service in Canada.
Zoom Telephonics ships samples of its USB ADSL modems to several ADSL service providers.
Forbes names broadband e-learning company, Ninth House Network, "Best of The Web" in corporate training.
DSLnetworks enters a marketing alliance with United Customer Management Solutions to bundle its DSL access services with UCMS' electronic customer relationship management solutions.
Omni Hotels will offer flat-rate, high-speed Internet access and video conferencing services to its guests within the next six months.